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TECHNICAL   EDUCATIONS 

WHAT    IT    IS, 


AND    WHAT    AMERICAN    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 
SHOULD    TEACH. 


AN  ESSAY 

BASED  ON  AN   EXAMINATION  OF  THE   METHODS    AND    RE- 
SULTS OF  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION   IN   EUROPE,   AS 
SHOWN    UY    OFFICIAL    REPORTS. 


BY    CHARLES    B.    STETSON. 


BOSTON  : 
JAMES     R.    OSGOOD    AND    COMPANY, 

(LATB  TICKNOR  &  FIELDS,  AND  FIELDS,  OSGOOD,  &  co.) 
1874. 


'  LClOBl 

si 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 
JAMES   R.   OSGOOD   &  CO., 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congre^at  Washington. 

w,.-  .     .     • 


BOSTON  : 
STEREOTYPED  AND  PRINTED  BY  RAND,  AVERY,  &  Co. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE. 

Introduction.  —  Competition  no  longer  Local,  but  World- wide.  —  Manu- 
factures no  longer  Few  and  Rude.  —  Decay  of  Apprenticeship.  — 
Labor,  Rude,  Dexterous,  and  Skilled.  —  Popular  Education.  —  Nat- 
ural Sciences  a  Part  of  Popular  Education.  —  Drawing  a  Part  of 
Popular  Education.  —  How  Time  is  to  be  had  for  the  New  Studies. 
—  Object  of  this  Compilation.  —  The  Manufactures  of  most  Value  .  1 


CHAPTER  H. 

Value  of  Technical  Instruction.  —  British  Opinions  expressed  by  Cham- 
bers of  Commerce.  —  Letter  to  Lord  Robert  Montagu,  M.  P.  — 
Foreign  Competition  in  Hardware  made  in  Birmingham.  —  Worsted 
Trade  of  Bradford.  — Decline  of  Silk  Manufacture  in  England.— 
French  Testimony.  —  Views  of  Prof.  Leoni  Levi.  —  Replies  to  Lord 
Stanley.  —  Testimony  of  Mr.  Samuelson.  —  Testimony  of  English 
Artisans  .  31 


CHAPTER  in. 

Importance  of  Varied  Education. — Literary  and  Scientific  Training. — 
Report  of  Sub-Committee  of  French  Imperial  Commission.  —  Man- 
ual Labor. —  Mission  for  the  Succor  of  Apprentices  .  .  .  .  114 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Special  Schools  for  the  Instruction  of  Apprentices.  —  Municipal  School 
at   Besancon.  —  Apprentice    Schools   in  Belgium.  —  Power-loom- 

Weaving.— School  at  Mulliouse 131 

iii 


541744 


IV  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

PAGE. 

Instruction  of  Workmen.  —  Popular  Lectures.  —  Museum  of  Industrial 
Products.  —  Reports  of  English  Artisans.  —  Universal  Primary 
Education 113 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Drawing.  —  The  French  Imperial  Commission.  —  Replies  to  Lord  Stan- 
ley's Circular.  —  Testimony  of  English  Artisans.  —  Testimony  of 
J.  Scott  Russell.  —  Belgian  Testimony .  — Mistaken  Study  of  the 
Human  Figure.  —  Geometry  the  True  Basis  of  all  Elementary 
Drawing.  —  Degrees  in  Teaching.  —  French  Report  on  Drawing  .  176 

CHAPTER  VH. 

Conclusion.  —  The  Work  must  begin  in  the  Primary  Schools.— Cram- 
ming.  —  Variety  and  Alternation  of  Studies.  —  Room  for  Additional 
Studies.  — Mental  Discipline.  —  Thorough  Instruction  and  Exhaust- 
ive Instruction.  —  Text-Books  in  Natural  Science.— Course  of 
Drawing  for  Common  Schools.  —  Special  Instruction  ...  251 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

THE  education  required  by  a  people  is  not  a  fixed 
quantity.  That  which  is  adequate  for  one  generation 
or  for  one  locality  is  not,  necessarily,  adequate  for 
another  generation  or  for  another  locality.  It  may  be 
said,  in  general,  that  the  education  of  a  people  should 
always  conform  to  their  necessities;  that,  as  the  con- 
ditions of  life  change,  the  education  of  a  people 
should  undergo  a  corresponding  change :  it  may  be 
one  of  degree  or  of  character,  or  it  may  be  a  change 
involving  both.  The  present  is  a  time  when  those  who 
have  the  shaping  of  popular  education  in  America 
should  consider  anew  the  practical  application  of  this 
simple  truth. 


.TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 


. .  F.oc  .the  America^  laborer,  whether  in  the  work-shop, 
an  the  coun^ing^liibuse,  or  on  the  farm,  the  conditions  of 
life  have,  within  the  last  fifty  years,  undergone  a  radical 
change,  and  of  such  a  nature,  that  the  laborer  must  now 
receive  a  vastly  better  education  than  he  required  one 
or  two  generations  ago:  otherwise  he  cannot  advance 
himself  as  lie  should,  nor  even  maintain  his  old  position. 
This  will  be  evident  from  a  simple  glance  at  three  or 
four  things  which  strikingly  distinguish  his  present 
situation  from  his  past. 

COMPETITION  NO  LONGER  LOCAL,  BUT  WORLD- 
WIDE.—  First,  the  railroad,  steamship,  and  telegraph 
have  changed,  in  a  marked  degree,  the  condition  of  the 
American  laborer.  Before  they  came,  the  competition 
he  had  to  meet  was  almost  wholly  local.  If  he  did  his 
work  as  well  and  as  cheaply  as  those  who  went  to  the 
same  church,  or  sat  on  the  same  jury,  with  himself,  there 
was  for  him  no  need  of  further  concern.  He,  and  these 
neighbors  of  his,  fixed  the  price  of  their  products,  since 
they  sold  in  a  market  from  which  all  but  local  competi- 
tion was  virtually  excluded.  There  is  nothing  of  this 
now.  Telegraphy  and  steam  have  made,  as  it  were,  one 
neighborhood  of  the  whole  world ;  and  the  competition 
the  American  laborer  must  now  meet,  even  at  his  own 
door,  is  no  longer  local :  it  comes  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  In  a  market  admitting  the  competition  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

world,  those  who  go  to  the  same  church,  or  sit  on 
the  same  jury,  cannot  longer  determine  the  price  of 
their  products.  The  world,  of  which  they  are  but  a 
part,  settles  that. 

Has  an  Ohio  farmer  a  fleece  of  wool  to  sell  ? 
He  meets  in  the  market  the  wool-grower  of  Aus- 
tralia. Has  a  Minnesota  farmer  a  bushel  of  wheat  to 
dispose  of?  The  return  for  it  depends,  more  or  less,  on 
the  crop  in.  California,  or  along  the  shores  of  the  Black 
Sea.  Is  the  seller  a  cotton-manufacturer  of  Lowell  ? 
He  must  compete  with  the  looms  of  Lancashire.  A 
Maine  manufacturer  of  axes  ?  He  must  face  the  axe- 
maker  of  Birmingham,  whom  he  has,  by  the  way, 
driven  from  the  American  market,  while  he  success- 
fully competes  with  him  in  the  market  of  the  world. 
Is  it  a  Philadelphia  builder  of  locomotives  ?  He  feels 
the  influence  of  Creuzot,  though  he  may  never  have 
actually  met  a  French  locomotive  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  Is  it  an  American  ship-builder  ?  He  knows, 
to  his  sorrow,  that  there  are  other  builders  on  the  Clyde. 
Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  one  product  of  American  indus- 
try, whose  market-price  is  not  now  determined,  in  large 
degree,  by  the  competition  of  the  whole  world;  and  this 
as  the  result,  mainly,  of  steam-carriage  and  telegraphic 
communication.  The  more  efficient  these  new  instru- 
mentalities become,  the  sharper  will  be  the  world's  com- 
petition, reaching  even  the  most  secluded  hamlet. 


4  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

The  destiny  of  the  laborer  is,  perhaps,  more  influenced 
by  steam  as  a  carrier  than  by  steam  as  a  producer ;  for 
steam,  especially  when  aided  by  telegraphic  communica- 
tion, is  a  great  leveller  in  the  world  of  industry.  No 
levelling  produces  just  the  same  pleasing  effect  for  all. 
Take  England  as  an  illustration.  Having  established 
her  manufactures  when  her  insular  position  and  sail- 
carriage  gave  her  comparatively  easy  access  to  the  Euro- 
pean and  other  markets,  she  now  finds  herself  every- 
where confronted  by  products  which  the  railway  has 
brought  from  the  manufacturing  centres  of  interior 
Europe.  While  she  glories  in  the  railway  achievements 
of  her  Stephenson,  those  very  achievements  have  greatly 
diminished  the  vantage  which  was  previously  hers  in 
the  market  of  the  world.  But  what  of  vantage  sh  '  has 
lost  through  steam  and  telegraphy,  she  is  now  strug- 
gling to  recover  through  a  better  education  of  her  pro- 
ducing classes.  By  the  same  levelling  process  the' 
American  laborer  is  affected.  Unless  he  does  his  best, 
he  is  liable  to  be  driven  from  the  market,  even  of  his 
own  town,  by  a  producer  who  lives  hundreds,  perhaps 
thousands,  of  miles  away. 

Here,  then,  is  one  particular  in  which  the  life  of 
the  American  laborer  has  undergone  a  decided  change  ; 
for  him  competition  is  no  longer  local,  but  world- 
wide. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

LAND  ONCE  NEW  AND  FERTILE,  NOW  OLD  AND  IM- 
POVERISHED. —  Consider,  in  the  next  place,  the  land. 
When  it  was  new,  bone  and  muscle,  vigorously  exercised, 
were  enough  to  insure  an  abundant  harvest.  Whatever 
was  planted  grew  without  stint ;  nor  were  there  a  thou- 
sand pests  to  destroy  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  The  Ameri- 
can farmer,  then,  had  little  occasion  for  chemistry, 
geology,  botany,  entomology,  engineering,  to  secure  im- 
mediate and  satisfactory  results.  As  the  remote  result, 
however,  of  the  stupid  agriculture  of  the  past,  the  pres- 
ent generation  inherits  vast  tracts  of  impoverished, 
unproductive  soil.  It  may  be  found  everywhere,  from 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  the  Mississippi,  from  the  Lakes 
to  the  Gulf.  But  little  of  the  land  which  has  been  cul- 
tivate;! for  two  generations,  now  yields  as  well  as  it  did 
forty  years  ago.  Much  of  it,  indeed,  is  returning  to  a 
state  of  nature. 

The  work  of  exhaustion  still  goes  on.  What  is  to 
check  it  ?  for  it  must  be  checked.  What  is  to  restore 
the  land  already  impoverished?  for  it  must  be  restored. 
No  American  farmer  should  consent  to  go  into  the 
market  witli  wheat,  corn,  butter,  cheese,  mutton,  beef, 
cotton,  which  h:ive  cost  him  more  than  the  same  things 
have  cost  his  competitors.  But  he  must  do  this,  unless 
he  puts  into  his  work  something  more  than  bone  and 

muscle,  something  more  than  the  equally  stupid  energy 
i* 


6  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

of  reapers  and  steani-plouglis.  There  must  be  labor, 
indeed,  but  no  wasted  labor.  That  there  may  be  no 
waste,  the  labor  must  always  harmonize  with  the  invisi- 
ble forces  of  Nature,  —  those  sleepless,  ever-active  giants 
with  whom  it  is  easy  to  work,  against  whom  it  is  im- 
possible for  the  farmer  to  achieve  any  thing.  It  is  edu- 
cated mind,  working  through  bone  and  muscle  and 
machinery,  which  is  to  restore  the  impoverished  lands, 
and  keep  them  at  their  highest  point  of  profitable 
production,  whatever  that  may  be.  In  England  that 
point  is,  for  wheat,  about  twenty-seven  bushels  to  the 
acre. 

Here,  then,  is  a  second  particular  —  diminished  pro- 
ductiveness of  much  of  the  soil  —  in  which  a  decided 
change  has  come  over  the  life  of  many  American 
laborers. 

MANUFACTURES  NO  LONGER  FEW  AND  RUDE.  —  In 
the  third  place,  the  demands  upon  the  American  artisan 
have  increased  wonderfully.  Fifty  years  ago  it  was  a 
very  limited  variety  of  products  required  at  his  hands : 
to-day  the  variety  is  almost  infinite,  ranging  from  a 
tenpenny  nail  to  an  ocean  steamship ;  from  a  pair  of 
spectacles  to  a  telescope  for  exploring  the  most  distant 
nebulae.  But  the  change  is  not  indicated  alone  by  a 
wonderful  increase  in  the  variety  of  the  manufactures. 
Haw  material  and  bone  and  muscle  constitute  a  much 


INTRODUCTION.  7 

smaller  part  of  their  value  ;  while  skill  and  taste  count 
for  vastly  more  than  they  did  when  the  ^shoemaker 
boarded  around  as  well  as  the  schoolmaster,  and  made 
the  shoes  and  boots  for  the  neighborhood.  The  house, 
and  the  furniture  put  into  it,  must  have  more  of  ele- 
gance and  comfort.  The  fabrics  of  the  loom  must  be 
more  beautiful  in  design,  and  must  show  a  higher  finish, 
than  in  the  days  of  homespun.  More  graceful  forms 
must  issue  from  the  founderies,  glass-works,  potteries, 
and  quarries.  The  ship  must  have  a  better  model ; 
and  its  workmanship  must  be  finer  in  every  part.  In- 
deed, though  the  work  of  the  American  artisan  is,  as  a 
whole,  far  behind  that  of  some  other  portions  of  the 
world,  yet  there  has  been  decided  progress  not  only  in 
the  variety,  but  in  the  quality,  of  the  products. 

The  progress  in  taste  is  largely  attributable  to  the 
importation  of  foreign  designs  and  designers.  It  may, 
however,  be  said  generally,  that  the  progress  in  Ameri- 
can manufactures  is  due  to  individual  effort  and  to  the 
subdivision  of  labor.  There  has  certainly  been  no 
united,  systematic  effort  to  produce  skilled  workmen, 
except  so  far  as  the  literary  education  of  the  public 
schools  has  indirectly  contributed  to  such  a  result. 
This  indirect  contribution  has  not  been  a  slight  one, 
however.  The  subdivision  of  labor  has  enabled  the 
workman  to  learn  one  part  of  his  business  more  thor- 


8  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

oughly  by  remaining  ignorant  of  all  the  other  parts. 
He  has  thus  become  a  more  dexterous  workman  in  a 
limited  field,  but  not,  necessarily,  a  more  skilful  work- 
man ;  that  is,  he  knows  no  more,  necessarily,  but  less, 
perhaps,  about  the  underlying  principles  of  his  busi- 
ness, than  he  did  when  he  served  an  apprenticeship,  and 
got  some  knowledge  of  all  parts  of  his  business. 

It  is  essential,  then,  that  the  American  artisan  re- 
ceive a  much  better  technical  education  than  present 
opportunities  permit.  It  is  essential  for  him,  individu- 
ally, that  he  may  hold  his  own  with  his  fellows  ;  it  is 
essential  for  the  capitalist  who  employs  him,  that  he 
may  hold  his  own  in  the  market  of  the  world  :  and  so 
it  is  essential  for  the  common  welfare.  It  is  only  the 
skilled  labor  of  the  multitude -which  will  suffice.  It  is 
not  enough  that  there  be  a  few  men  highly  qualified  for 
their  work ;  it  is  not  enough  that  there  be  intelligent 
direction ;  it  is  not  enough  that  the  artist  work  under 
the  same  roof  with  the  artisan :  director,  artist,  and 
artisan  should  be,  as  far  as  possible,  united  in  the  same 
person.  The  less  the  artisan  resembles  a  machine,  the 
better  and  cheaper  will  be  the  products  of  his  labor. 
All  this  will  be  placed  beyond  question  by  the  unim- 
peachable evidence  which  will  be  given  in  subsequent 
pages.  It  will  be  seen  that  it  is  not  the  pauper  labor, 
but  the  educated  labor,  of  Europe,  like  that  seen  in 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

Creuzot,  France,  which  America  has  good  reason  to 
fear.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  cheapest  of  all  labor  is 
skilled  labor,  such  as  every  State  may  secure  by  prop- 
erly educating  her  citizens. 

Here,  then,  is  a  third  particular  —  multiplied  and 
improved  manufactures  —  in  which  a  decided  change 
has  come  over  the  life  of  a  large  class  of  American 
laborers. 

DECAY  OF  APPRENTICESHIP.  —  In  the  fourth  place, 
apprenticeship  has  become  almost  wholly  a  thing  of  the 
past  in  America,  and  largely  so  in  Europe.  Yet  there 
never  was  a  more  urgent  demand  for  skilled  workmen. 

This  decay  of  apprenticeship  is  mainly  due  to  the 
subdivision  of  labor  which  is  now  observed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  nearly  all  things,  from  pins  to  locomotives, 
because  it  is  found  to  }rield  the  best  results.  The  use  of 
machinery,  the  character  of  which  is  often  such  as  to  put 
an  end  to  small  enterprises,  has  promoted  this  subdivision 
by  accumulating  workmen  in  large  groups.  The  begin- 
ner, confining  himself  to  one  department,  is  soon  able  to 
earn  wages.  This  gratifies  both  himself  and  his  par- 
ents;  and  so  he  usually  continues- as  he  began.  If, 
however,  he  wishes  to  become  a  master  of  his  trade,  and 
the  employer  agrees  to  instruct  thoroughly,  the  latter  is 
often  tempted  to  keep  his  apprentice  at  work  an  undue 
time  in  the  department  he  may  have  first  well  learned, 


10  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

and  in  which  his  labor  is,  consequently,  profitable.  If 
the  employer  does  not  yield  to  this  temptation,  then 
who  is  there  to  give  the  apprentice  proper  instruction, 
seeing  that  so  many  workmen  usually  work  by  the  piece, 
and  cannot  afford  to  spend  any  time  in  the  instruction 
of  others  ?  Nobody.  Thus  it  happens  that  the  begin- 
ner usually  confines  himself  to  one  department,  and  is 
only  anxious  to  receive  wages  as  soon  as  possible. 

While  this  is  to  the  present  advantage  of  employer 
and  employed,  it  is  to  the  ultimate  disadvantage  of 
both ;  for  it  is  found  that  the  workman  who  knows  all 
the  departments  of  his  trade  —  knows  the  theory  as  well 
as  the  practice  —  will  always  do  better  work  in  any  par- 
ticular department  he  may  devote  himself  to.  Again  : 
the  workman  who  can  do  but  one  thing,  or  rather  one 
part  of  one  thing,  has  little  chance  for  promotion.  ITe 
also  finds  himself  helpless,  when,  at  some  unfortunate 
turn,  his  limited  specialty  fails  him ;  and  there  is  more 
frequently  an  excess  of  workmen  in  a  subdivision  of  any 
industry  than  an  excess  in  the  industry  as  a  whole. 
Furthermore,  the  use  of  machinery,  instead  of  dimin- 
ishing, rather  increases,  the  artisan's  need  of  thoroughly 
understanding  his  trade  :  unless  he  does,  he  cannot  make 
the  most  of  about  the  only  chance  (an  increase  of  daily 
wages)  which  he  now  has  for  bettering  his  condition. 
Machinery  having  rendered  individual  enterprises  so 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

expensive,  the  artisan  has,  in  most  cases,  little  chance  of 
ever  becoming  his  own  master.  Twenty-five  years  ago, 
when  there  were,  for  example,  more  daily  papers  in  Bos- 
ton than  now,  and  more  shoe-manufacturing  employers 
in  New  England,  the  industrious,  frugal  artisan  working 
for  wages  had  a  reasonable  hope  that  he  might  some 
day  become  an  employer  himself.  That  hope,  as  a  stimu- 
lating, lifting  power,  must  have  been  wonderfully  produc- 
tive of  good.  But  what,  in  any  department  of  industry, 
is  there  now  to  lift  the  workman,  to  stimulate  him  to 
greater  exertion  ?  Virtually,  nothing  but  a  prospective 
increase  of  his  per  diem  by  doing  more  and  better  work, 
and  by  a  merited  promotion  to  some  one  of  the  many 
subordinate  places  of  oversight  and  trust.  He  should, 
therefore,  be  provided  with  every  means  for  improv- 
ing himself  as  a  workman,  and  qualifying  himself  for 
promotion.  Apprenticeship  having  essentially  departed 
never  to  return  in  its  ancient  form,  something  else  must 
take  its  place  in  America,  as  its  place  has  already  been 
largely  taken  in  Europe  by  special  schools,  and  give  the 
American  artisan  that  technical  instruction  which  he 
must  have,  or  perish. 

Here,  then,  is  a  fourth  particular  —  the  decay  of 
apprenticeship  —  in  which  a  decided  change  has  come 
over  the  life  of  a  large  class  of  American  laborers. 

LABOR,  RUDE,  DEXTEROUS,  SKILLED.  —  It  is  thus 


12  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

seen,  from  the  four  particulars  enumerated,  that  the 
times  have  decidedly  changed  for  the  American  laborer; 
that  it  is  now  of  the  utmost  moment  for  him,  whatever 
his  work,  to  be  skilled  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word; 
and  that  he  cannot  become  thus  skilled  without  instruc- 
tion having  such  an  object  in  view.  But  what  is  skilled 
labor  and  its  value  ? 

All  manual  labor  maybe  divided  into  rude,  dexterous, 
and  skilled  labor.  The  first  requires  only,  or  mainly, 
the  strength  and  patience  of  the  stupid  plodder.  The 
second  requires  nice  finish,  and  celerity  of  execution  : 
but  the  work  is  all  done  by  "rule  of  thumb  ; "  that  is,  in 
ignorance  of  principles.  Subdivision  of  labor  is  spe- 
cially favorable  to  the  production  of  dexterous  workman. 
The  third  requires  both  dexterity,  and  a  knowledge  of 
underlying  principles.  It  is  theory  and  practice  united; 
and  it  enables  the  workman  to  adapt  himself  to  new 
conditions,  and  always  to  do  the  best  thing  in  an  emer- 
gency, —  to  improve  old  methods  of  work,  or  devise  new 
ones.  It  may  be  said,  in  general,  that,  while  the  rude 
laborer  earns  one  dollar,  the  dexterous  laborer  will  earn 
two  dollars,  the  skilled  laborer  three  dollars;  all  working 
with  their  hands.  In  some  varieties  of  labor,  the  differ- 
ence is  much  greater  than  this. 

For  the  rude  laborer  there  is  no  hope  of  promotion  ; 
for  the  merely  dexterous  laborer  the  prospect  is  limited  : 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

but  the  skilled  laborer,  master  of  his  business  in  theory 
and  practice,  may  count  surely  upon  advancement.  In 
dull  times  the  skilled  laborer  is  the  last  to  be  dis- 
charged ;  yet  he  is  the  one  who  has  savings  to  rely  upon, 
—  the  one  who  can  most  readily  adapt  himself  to  a  new 
occupation. 

1*here  are  but  few  kinds  of  labor,  giving  employment 
to  comparatively  few  persons,  which  require  only  the 
rude  strength  of  the  steady  plodder.  Such  stupid 
drudgery  is  the  exception ;  while  labor  requiring  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  skill  is  the  law.  Frequently, 
indeed,  labor  is  degraded  to  drudgery  by  reason  of  the 
stupidity  with  which  it  is  performed.  It  may,  therefore, 
be  justly  said,  that  almost  every  laborer  should  possess 
skill ;  the  more  skill  the  better.  Even  in  sawing  wood, 
spading  earth,  tending  a  cotton-picker,  there  is  a  phi- 
losophy, a  best  way  to  proceed,  which  the  intelligent, 
but  not  the  stupid,  laborer  is  sure  to  discover  and  to 
follow. 

POPULAR  EDUCATION.  —  But  there  can  be  no  such 
general  diffusion  of  skill  among  laborers,  without  a 
popular  education  beginning  in  the  primary  school,  and 
having  that  for  one  of  its  objects.  Hence  it  is  quite  time 
American  schools,  instead  of  longer  proceeding  much  as 
they  did  forty  years  ago,  recognized  the  change  in  the 
social  situation;  quite  time  they  were  so  modified  as, 


14  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

by  direct  intention,  to  educate  the  pupils  more  for  skilled 
laborers,  —  farmers,  artisans,  merchants,  manufacturers 
—  than  for  the  literary  and  professional  occupations. 
When  the  best  possible  result  of  this  kind  has  been 
secured,  there  will  always  be  inevitable  blockheads 
enough  to  do  the  inevitable  drudgery  of  the  world. 
They  who  oppose  the  systematic  technical  education  of 
workmen,  fearful  that  there  will  then  be  none  left  igno- 
rant enough  for  drudges,  need  not  be  alarmed.  Nor 
will  a  little  early  industrial  culture  be  wasted,  even  on 
those  who  may  become  theologians  or  judges ;  but  rather 
it  will  do  them  good. 

But  how  should  the  popular  education  be  modified  ? 
To-day  it  may  be  described  as  literary,  —  for  the  use  of 
the  head,  and  not  for  the  us"e  of  the  hands.  Preserving 
its  general  character  of  fifty  years  ago,  it  does  not  bear 
directly  upon  the  leading  pursuits  of  the  people.  In 
the  organization  of  many  schools,  and  in  the  methods 
of  instruction,  there  has  been  great  change;  but  there 
has  been  very  little  change  in  the  things  taught,  though 
a  large  increase  in  the  quantity.  The  text-books  for 
reading,  spelling,  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography,  writ- 
ing, have  grown  in  number  and  size ;  and  much  more 
time  is  devoted  to  each  of  these  studies.  Indeed,  in 
nearly  all  the  public  schools  of  the  land  they  occupy 
five-sixths  of  the  pupil's  time.  Could  the  school-year 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

be  doubled  in  length,  twice  as  much  time  as  now  would 
be  given  to  the  studies  enumerated,  if  the  educational 
spirit  of  the  past,  which  is,  in  the  main,  the  American 
educational  spirit  of  the  present,  continued  to  control 
the  schools,  as  it  does  now  control  them  with  few  ex- 
ceptions. It  would  be  more  arithmetic,  more  geogra- 
phy, more  grammar,  more  spelling,  with  no  fundamental 
change  of  character. 

There  is,  however,  a  growing  tendency  to  modify 
American  popular  education,  and  to  bring  it  into  har- 
mony with  the  age  and  the  manifest  demands  of  labor. 
What  has  already  been  well  done  in  some  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, and  what  the  other  parts  (notably  England,  so 
thoroughly  alarmed  by  the  International  Exhibitions, 
beginning  with  the  one  in  London  in  1852)  are  making 
such  zealous  efforts  to  do,  will  doubtless  soon  be  regard- 
ed by  all  Americans  as,  in  the  main,  the  proper  thing 
for  the  technical  education  of  American  labor.  It  is 
with  this  technical  education  that  European  govern- 
ments are  just  now  specially  concerning  themselves  ; 
and  it  is  with  the  same  thing  that  they  who  have  the 
shaping  of  popular  education  in  America  must  specially 
concern  themselves  during  the  next  twenty-five  years. 
In  the  present  public-school  system,  with  its  strong 
literary  features,  they  have  a  broad  and  excellent  foun- 
dation upon  which  to  build.  No  amount  of  instruction 


16  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

in  science  and  art  can  fully  compensate  for  lack  of 
literary  training,  even  when  industrial  results  alone  are 
sought. 

NATURAL  SCIENCE  A  PART  OF  POPULAR  EDUCA- 
TION. —  This  harmony  between  education  and  the  de- 
mands of  the  age  requires  that  the  natural  sciences, 
—  like  chemistry,  botany,  physiology,  —  which  bear  di- 
rectly upon  great  industries,  and  otherwise  tend  to 
promote  the  common  welfare,  should  form  a  distinguish- 
ing feature  in  popular  education,  —  should  be  added  to 
the  present  literary  curriculum  of  the  American  public- 
school.  The  whole  people  should  not  only  be  ni;i<lc. 
acquainted  with  the  leading  principles  and  the  tnore 
important  practical  applications  of  natural  science,  but 
they  should  be  so  instructed  as  to  acquire,  /  in  good 
degree,  the  scientific  habit  of  investigation  and  thought. 
The  farmer  has  daily  need  of  this  knowledge  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  routine  labors;  also  daily  need  of  this 
habit  of  investigation  and  thought  in  order  to  meet 
emergencies,  —  to  meet  the  cases  not  laid  down  in  the 
books,  nor  inherited  through  tradition.  Lacking  this 
knowledge  and  this  habit  of  mind,  he  wastes  his  energies 
in  a  blind  contest  with  the  invisible  forces  of  nature, 
and  draws  the  most  absurd  conclusions,  or  no  conclu- 
sions at  all,  from  surrounding  phenomena.  For  him 
labor  degenerates  into  drudgery  j  while  profits  diminish, 


INTRODUCTION.  IT 

or  disappear  altogether.  Then  there  are  many  artisans 
who  have  urgent  need  of  similar  knowledge,  and  of  a 
similar  habit  of  mind.  By  the  same  things  the  kitchen, 
too,  would  be  greatly  profited ;  cost  of  living  would  be 
reduced,  yet  people  would  fare  better,  and  their  years 
would  be  prolonged. 

While,  as  it  will  be  claimed,  it  is  not  the  business  of 
the  common  school  to  make  specialists,  —  farmers,  car- 
penters, accountants,  engineers,  cooks,  —  it  is  the  busi- 
ness of  such  a  school  to  teach  at  least  the  elements  of 
technical  knowledge,  and  to  teach  these  elements  to 
all.  Such  instruction,  because  of  the  discipline  it  af- 
fords, —  like  in  part,  in  part  unlike,  that  afforded  by 
other  studies,  —  is  of  indirect  value  to  every  one.  It  is 
also  of  direct  value  to  the  great  body  of  the  people ;  for 
it  is  the  universal  European  experience,  that  laborers 
cannot  be  satisfactorily  educated  for  their  work,  unless 
they  have  first  received,  in  schools  for  children  and 
youth,  not  only  literary  instruction,  but  also  instruction 
in  the  elements  of  technical  knowledge,  scientific  and 
artistic.  With  a  broad  foundation  of  elementary  in- 
struction, and  not  otherwise,  special  instruction  can  be 
successfully  added  according  to  the  requirements  of  each 
workman.  Such  is  the  universal  experience  of  those 
European  countries  that  have  undertaken  to  educate 

workmen  for  their  special  pursuits. 
2* 


18  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

DRAWING  A  PART  OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION.  —  Tliis 
harmony  between  education  and  the  demands  of  the 
age  also  requires  that  drawing  should  hold  a  conspicu- 
ous place  in  popular  education.  Both  for  the  peculiar 
culture  it  imparts,  and  for  its  practical  uses,  it  should 
be  taught  in  every  public  school.  As  the  result  of 
extended  and  careful  investigations,  made  from  time  to 
time,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  character  of 
the  education  requisite  to  produce  skilled  workmen  and 
promote  industrial  welfare,  European  governments  now 
lay  greater  emphasis  upon  drawing  than  upon  any  other 
study.  Indeed,  it  holds  so  prominent  a  place  in  the 
education  of  the  people  of  most  European  communities, 
that  it  may  be  said,  roundly,  to  constitute  a  fourth  part 
of  all  the  education  the  artisan  receives.  And  yet  even 
in  France,  where  the  artisan  has  for  some  time  been  well 
educated  in  drawing,  it  is  regarded  of  vital  importance 
that  the  present  instruction  in  drawing  be  increased, 
and  made  of  still  better  quality.  Indeed,  the  evidence 
places  it  beyond  question,  that,  in  Europe,  the  welfare  of 
the  individual  artisan,  of  manufacturing  establishments, 
of  whole  communities  even,  may  be  justly  attributed  to 
instruction  in  drawing.  As  drawing  has  no  particular 
home,  it  may  render  to  American  industry  services 
equally  valuable.  The  whole  people  should  not  only  be 
made  acquainted  with  its  leading  principles  and  more 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

important  industrial  applications;  they  should  be  so 
instructed  as  to  acquire,  in  good  degree,  artistic  habits 
of  mind  and  manipulation. 

Almost  every  thing  that  is  well  made  now  is  made 
from  a  drawing.  In  the  construction  of  buildings, 
ships,  machinery,  bridges,  fortifications,  nothing  is  done 
without  drawings.  It  is  not  enough  that  there  be 
draughtsmen  to  make  the  drawings :  the  workmen  who 
are  to  construct  the  objects  required  should  be  able, 
without  help,  to  interpret  the  drawings  given  for  their 
guidance.  This  they  cannot  do  without  instruction  that 
acquaints  them  with  the  principles  on  which  the  draw- 
ings are  made,  and  so  trains  the  imagination  as  to  enable 
it  to  form  from  the  given  lines  a  vivid  mental  picture 
of  the  object  required.  The  workman  who  lacks  this 
knowledge  and  this  ability,  as  it  is  probable  that  nine- 
teen-twentieths  of  American  artisans  now  do,  must 
work  under  the  constant  supervision  of  another,  doing 
less  and  inferior  work,  and  receiving  inferior  wages. 
But  it  is  also  essential  that  the  workman  himself  be  able 
to  make  at  least  a  rude  working-drawing,  whenever,  as 
frequently  happens,  an  emergency  requires  it. 

Furthermore,  it  is  not  enough  that  the  artisan  be  able 
to  make  an  object,  and  to  make  it  expeditiously ;  not 
enough  that  his  workmanship  be  of  the  highest  order. 
There  are  thousands  of  things  whose  commercial  value 


20  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

depends  mainly  upon  their  beauty,  for  which  the  world 
is  always  so  willing  to  pay.  This  beauty  may  be  in  the 
form  of  the  objects  themselves,  or  in  the  applied  decora- 
tion, or  in  both.  However  strong  a  piece  of  carpeting 
may  be  made,  however  exquisite  may  be  its  finish,  an 
ugly  design  will  ruin  its  sale.  It  is  the  design,  no  less 
than  the  quality  of  the  workmanship,  that  determines 
whether  or  not  an  object  from  tlie  furniture  factory, 
from  the  glassworks,  or  the  pottery,  shall  sell  for  more 
than  the  cost  of  the  raw  material.  It  is  the  same  with 
Nature's  products.  The  beautiful  horse  is  preferred 
to  the  one  equally  serviceable,  but  homely.  Indeed, 
beauty  has  a  commercial  value  almost  unlimited.  But 
wherever  the  beauty  is  found,  —  in  the  shape  of  the  ob- 
ject or  in  the  decoration,  —  it  is  mainly  due  to  form; 
and  so  its  principles  and  their  applications  are  best 
learned  by  persistent  practice  in  drawing. 

It  is  not  enough,  however,  that  there  be  special  de- 
signers. In  most  departments  of  industry,  the  work- 
men who  are  to  reproduce  given  designs  in  the  form  of 
commercial  products  cannot  do  this  successfully,  unless 
they  have  received  such  a  training  as  to  give  them  an 
artistic  taste  and  the  power  of  artistic  manipulation. 
This  training  they  must  have,  if  they  are  simply  to  re- 
produce given  designs ;  but  they  also  need  it,  that  they 
may  be  able  themselves  to  modify  the  given  design  (as 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

it  is  often  necessary  to  do),  the  better  to  adapt  it  to  the 
object  required,  or  to  the  material  of  which  it  is  made. 
The  evidence,  indeed,  leaves  it  in  no  doubt  that  the 
artisan  should  receive  an  artistic  training  (the  more  of 
it  the  better),  of  which  drawing  should  constitute  the 
chief  element.  The  best  results  have  been  secured, 
where  the  one  who  designed  and  the  one  who  executed 
were  the  same  person ;  the  next  best  results,  where  the 
one  who  executed  had  received  an  artistic  training.  It 
may  be  accepted  as  a  general  truth,  the  more  of  an 
artist,  the  better  the  artisan  ;  for  the  work  will  ever  tell 
of  the  workman.  Hence  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  instruction  in  drawing  should  go  far  beyond  exer- 
cises in  mere  copying ;  that  the  principles  of  good  de- 
sign should  be  thoroughly  taught ;  and  that  the  pupils, 
from  an  early  age,  should  be  systematically  trained  in 
the  pleasant  and  intellectually  stimulating  production 
of  original  designs. 

How  TIME  is  TO  BE  HAD  FOR  THE  NEW  STUDIES.  — 
The  two  great  features  which  should  be  ingrafted  on 
popular  education  in  the  United  States,  if  that  educa- 
tion is  to  be  brought  into  harmony  with  the  times  and 
the  manifest  requirements  of  labor,  have  now  been 
designated.  They  are  practical  science  and  practical 
art. 

But  how  can    these    additions  be  made?     Whence 


22  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

is  the  time  to  be  had  for  the  instruction  of  the  boys  and 
girls  in  the  public  schools,  most  of  whom  fail  to  accom- 
plish all  that  is  now  required  of  them  ?  Yet  there  is  no 
study  now  in  these  schools  which  should  be  excluded. 
The  evidence  is  incontrovertibly  strong,  that  the  best 
technical  education  alone  is  not  sufficient  to  produce 
even  the  best  practical  results  :  there  must  also  be  lite- 
rary culture,  the  more  of  it  the  better.  Never  was  there 
a  broader  and  firmer  foundation  upon  which  to  build  a 
popular  industrial  education  than  is  afforded  by  the 
public  schools  of  the  United  States.  This  foundation 
must  be  preserved,  and,  if  possible,  made  better  still. 
But  how  can  new  studies  be  added,  and  new  and  old 
receive  proper  attention? 

When  the  necessity  of  adding  new  studies  is  fully 
recognized,  a  way  will  be  found.  Doubtless  it  will  be 
found,  upon  considering  just  how  much  of  each  study  it 
is  essential  to  teach,  —  that  some,  if  not  all,  of  the  present 
studies  can  be  greatly  abridged  without  diminishing  the 
quality  of  the  mental  discipline  acquired,  or  the  amount 
of  really  useful  knowledge.  Would  the  spelling-books, 
for  example,  be  of  less  service,  were  the  words  they  con- 
tain reduced  to  one-third  of  their  present  number,  and 
confined  to  those  in  common  use  ?  This  reduction 
would  save  the  pupils  many  days  which  they  now  de- 
vote to  the  task  of  spelling  words  they  will  never  have 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

occasion  to  spell  when  they  are  once  out  of  school. 
Would  the  instruction  in  geography  be  of  less  value,  if 
it  were  limited  to  the  general  principles  and  to  the  more 
important  facts ;  which  the  pupils  would  be  able  to  retain 
after  they  were  once  learned  ?  This  would  reduce  by 
two-thirds  those  details  which  are  now  memorized  only 
to  be  forgotten ;  and  the  pupils  would  save  months  of 
time.  And  would  it  not  be  better  to  confine  arithmeti- 
cal instruction  to  the  science  of  numbers  and  its  prac- 
tical applications  ?  Doubtless  it  will  also  be  found  that 
some  of  the  schools,  if  not  all,  can  be  made  much  more 
efficient  by  change  in  their  organization  or  methods  of 
instruction.  Why,  for  example,  should  the  bright, 
healthy,  industrious  pupils  in  graded  schools  be  required 
to  go  the  same  pace  as  the  stupid  and  lazy  ?  Why,  in- 
deed, may  there  not  be  such  a  flexible  school  organiza- 
tion as  to  afford  each  a  chance  to  do  his  best,  —  to  finish 
any  study  at  the  earliest  moment  ?  Why  not  reduce 
the  lessons  in  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  to  four  a 
week,  and  even  drop  these  studies  an  occasional  term  ? 
Thus  would  time  be  secured  for  new  studies  without  in- 
creasing the  daily  lessons  of  the  pupil.  And  doubtless 
it  will  be  found  that  parents,  when  they  realize  the  great 
value  of  instruction  in  practical  science  and  practical  art, 
will  send  their  children  to  school  longer  than  most  of 
them  do  now.  As  for  suitable  teachers,  they  will  be 


24  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

had  as  they  are  wanted.  But,  after  the  present  public 
schools  have  done  all  it  is  proper  for  them  to  undertake, 
much  additional  technical  instruction  must  be  provided 
for  American  workmen  in  special  schools,  as  is  now  the 
case  in  so  many  parts  of  the  civilized  world.  These 
special  schools,  except  the  higher  ones,  must  be  adapted 
to  the  requirements  of  the  different  localities  where  they 
are  established.  In  one  place  the  school  must  be,  in  the 
main,  commercial ;  in  another  place,  agricultural ;  and, 
in  a  third  place,  it  must  be  adapted  to  those  engaged  in 
building,  in  wood,  leather,  or  textile  manufactures,  in 
quarrying,  in  locomotive  or  machine  construction,  or 
whatever  else  may  be  the  chief  pursuit. 

OBJECT  OF  THIS  COMPILATION".  —  It  is  the  object  of 
these  pages,  mainly  filled  with  extracts  from  govern- 
mental reports,  to  give  a  general  idea  of  what  has  been 
done  for  the  technical  education  of  workmen  in  Europe, 
how  it  has  been  done,  what  the  evident  results  are,  and 
what  it  is  there  urged  should  be  further  attempted.  As 
the  testimony  is  foreign,  it  is  of  special  value  for  Amer- 
icans, since  it  shows  them  the  character  of  the  competi- 
tion they  must  meet  in  the  market  of  the  world.  It  is 
hoped,  therefore,  that  this,  though  slight,  contribution 
in  favor  of  a  modified  education  for  the  American  people 
will  not  be  wholly  without  influence  with  those  who 
have  the  special  care  and  moulding  of  the  public  schools 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

of  the  country.  It  is  hoped  that  it  will  strengthen  and 
somewhat  accelerate  the  general  movement  now  begin- 
ning in  behalf  of  popular  industrial  education.  Much 
precious  time  has  already  been  irretrievably  lost ;  and, 
for  a  generation  to  come,  American  laborers  must  feel 
the  evil  consequences.  In  a  matter  which  depends  upon 
the  education  of  the  whole  people,  there  must  always  be 
patient  waiting  for  results.  Nothing  can  be  achieved  at 
a  bound. 

While  so  little  has  been  done  for  industrial  education 
in  America,  so  much  has  been  done,  and  is  now  doing, 
in  other  countries,  that  it  must  be  many  years,  even 
with  the  best  possible  effort,  before  American  farmers, 
manufacturers,  and  artisans,  as  a  body,  can  equal  the 
skill  of  many  of  their  foreign  competitors.  Because  the 
fullest  results  cannot  be  immediately  secured,  that  is  no 
argument  for  further  neglecting  the  industrial  education 
of  the  people,  but  rather  an  argument  for  the  speediest 
and  most  vigorous  action  in  its  favor.  Though  we 
stand  still,  other  nations  will  not.  But  it  is  not 
simply  a  matter  of  foreign  competition  :  there  is  the 
home  competition  of  State  with  State,  of  city  with  city, 
of  one  establishment  with  another,  and  of  one  artisan 
or  farmer  with  another.  No  tariff  can  protect  any 
community  against  this  home  competition. 

Where  manufactures  are  already  established,  they  can 


26  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

be  permanently  retained  only  by  the  technical  education 
of  the  workmen  in  local  schools.  Though  these  manu- 
factures have  hitherto  been  successful  in  spite  of  un- 
skilled labor,  it  will  be  hazardous  in  the  extreme  to  rely 
upon  such  labor  hereafter,  or  upon  skilled  labor  to  be 
got  by  chance  from  abroad.  Where  it  is  the  wish  to 
establish  new  manufactures,  there  the  manufactures,  if 
they  are  to  be  made  secure  and  profitable,  must  be 
established  on  the  technical  education  of  the  workmen 
in  local  schools.  That  is  the  only  foundation  upon 
which  it  is  safe  to  build  the  new,  or  to  which  it  is  safe 
to  trust  the  old,  unless  the  manufactures  are  very  rude 
indeed,  and  owe  their  value  mainly  to  the  raw  material 
consumed. 

THE  MANUFACTURES  OP  MOST  VALUE.  —  But  the 
manufactures  for  which  a  community  should  specially 
contend  are  those  in  which  skilled  labor  counts  for 
much,  and  raw  material  for  very  little.  As  such  manu- 
factures require  a  good  degree  of  intelligence  for  their 
successful  prosecution,  they  yield  the  largest  profits, 
and  afford  the  best  class  of  citizens.  That  is  not  all. 
The  demand  for  the  products  of  skilled,  artistic  labor,  is 
not  limited  by  the  number  of  purchasers,  but  only  by 
their  taste,  and  by  their  desire  and  ability  to  purchase. 
The  demand  is,  therefore,  essentially  unlimited.  Thus 
a  shawl  costing  five  hundred  dollars  because  of  its 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

beauty  will  always  be  preferred  to  another  equally 
warm  and  durable,  but  costing  only  ten  dollars.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  demand  for  simple,  rude  manufac- 
tures,—  like  ploughs,  carts,  shovels,  hammers,  jeans, 
plain  cottons,  which  only  require  to  be  well  fitted  for 
use,  and  substantially  made,  —  is  limited  by  the  number 
of  purchasers,  who  take  the  least  possible  amount,  and 
of  the  cheapest  variety,  that  will  serve  their  turn.  It  is 
much  the  same  with  these  manufactures  as  it  is  with  the 
staple  products  of  agriculture,  the  demand  for  which  is 
limited  by  the  number  of  the  consumers  rather  than  by 
their  ability  to  purchase  ;  since  the  rich  man  can  con- 
sume no  more  bread  than  the  poor  man,  while  the  latter 
must  have  as  much  as  the  former  for  his  healthy,  vigor- 
ous support. 

The  labor-saving  implements  now  employed  in 
American  agriculture,  enabling  one  man  and  two 
horses  to  cultivate  each  year  forty  to  sixty  acres  of 
land  on  a  Western  prairie,  does  not  increase  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  earth  beyond  the  fixed  amount  required 
by  the  population,  but  reduces  the  number  of  laborers 
engaged  in  agriculture.  Whatever  facilitates  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  soil  inevitably  tends  to  diminish  the 
relative  number  of  farm-laborers,  and  to  increase  the 
relative  number  of  those  engaged  in  other  pursuits.  It 
is  to  the  use  of  labor-saving  implements  on  the  farm 


28  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

that  is  to  be  largely  attributed  the  greater  relative 
growth  of  American  cities  compared  with  the  increase 
of  the  agricultural  population.  In  Europe,  a  similar 
relative  increase  in  the  city  population  over  that  of  the 
country  is  largely  due  to  a  more  intelligent  cultivation 
of  the  soil,  whereby  the  same  labor  obtains  much  larger 
returns  than  it  formerly  did ;  and  so  there  is  a  demand 
for  less  farm  laborers  compared  with  the  whole  popula- 
tion. "When  a  high  degree  of  skill  is  added  to  the 
labor-saving  machinery  now  employed  in  American 
agriculture,  there  will  be  seen  a  yet  greater  relative 
increase  of  the  city  and  manufacturing  over  the  agricul- 
tural population. 

This  increasing  multitude  of  artisans  will  not  be 
able  to  find  profitable  employment  as  rude  workmen. 
There  is  a  rigid  limit  fixed  to  the  demand  for  rude  pro- 
ducts, as  already  indicated.  They  will  be  able  to  find 
profitable  employment  only  as  skilled,  artistic  workmen, 
—  employment  in  the  production  of  all  those  things 
which  skill  and  taste  know  so  well  how  to  create  for  the 
embellishment  and  delight  of  civilized  life,  and  for  which 
there  can  be  no  rigidly  limited,  but  always  an  increas- 
ing demand.  It  is  for  such  manufactures  that  commu- 
nities should  specially  contend,  and,  to  contend  success- 
fully, must  educate  their  people  in  practical  science  and 
in  practical  art.  When  a  military  result  is  required,  the 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

whole  people  must  be  educated  in  the  military  art,  as 
Prussia  has  demonstrated  by  putting  the  spiked  helmet 
into  all  of  her  schools.  When  an  industrial  result  is 
required,  then  the  whole  people  must  be  educated  in 
the  industrial  arts,  as  Switzerland  has  exemplified  so 
well.  The  earliest  day  is  the  best  day  to  begin  this 
work  of  education.  Those  communities  which  first  estab- 
lish their  manufactures  have  a  decided  initial  advan- 
tage over  all  new  competitors,  though  not  a  sufficient 
advantage  to  justify  them  in  neglecting  any  precaution 
against  encroachment.  Since,  then,  skilled  labor  is  the 
only  sure  foundation  for  prosperous  manufactures,  and 
since  the  artisan  class  is  increasing,  and  must,  for  the 
reasons  given,  continue  to  increase,  in  relative  numbers 
and  importance,  much  more  rapidly  than  the  whole 
population,  the  proper  education  of  this  class  becomes, 
with  each  succeeding  year,  a  matter  of  more  vital  con- 
sequence. 

The  following  pages  will  clearly  show  that  the  tech- 
nical education  of  workmen  cannot  be  made  in  the 
highest  degree  efficient,  unless  it  begins  in  the  primary 
school ;  and  that  instruction  in  art  and  science  alone  is 
not  enough,  but  must  be  based  on  general  literary  cul- 
ture. The  American  system  of  common  schools  already 
gives  every  one  the  general  culture,  to  which  those  fun- 
damental elements  of  technical  education  which  belong 
3* 


30  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

alike  to  nearly  all  departments  of  labor  can  be  easily 
added  without  making  specialists  of  the  pupils.  After 
the  common  school  must  come  the  special  schools,  even 
now  so  numerous  in  Europe.  The  following  pages  will 
also  clearly  show  that  drawing  and  art  must  occupy 
the  most  conspicuous  place  in  the  technical  education 
of  workmen.  They  will  also  show  that  different  Euro- 
pean governments  have  been,  for  a  series  of  years,  mak- 
ing earnest,  systematic  efforts  —  and  perhaps  nothing 
so  engrosses  their  attention  now  —  for  the  technical 
education  of  workmen ;  beginning  it  in  primary  schools, 
and  continuing  it  through  evening  schools,  Sunday 
schools,  apprentice  schools,  schools  of  arts  and  trades, 
popular  lectures  and  museums,  with -its  culmination  in 
great  technical  universities.  To-day  it  is  with  educated, 
skilled  labor  —  ever  the  cheapest  as  it  is  the  best  labor 
—  that  Europe  proposes  to  meet  the  world  in  friendly  con- 
test for  industrial  supremacy.  Let  America  take  note 
that  it  is  the  educated,  skilled  labor  of  Europe,  and  not 
pauper  labor,  as  so  many  believe,  which  she  has  good 
reason  to  fear,  and  against  which  she  can  defend  her- 
self only  by  educating  her  workmen  equally  well. 


CHAPTER  II. 

VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL   INSTRUCTION. 

THE  numerous  extracts  given  in  this  chapter  show 
clearly,  among  other  things,  that, 

1.  The  person  who  has  general  charge  of  any  busi- 
ness should  understand  that  business  both  theoretically 
and  practically.  His  knowledge  of  principles  should  be 
such  as  to  enable  him  to  instruct  any  subordinate 
requiring  instruction,  to  determine  at  once  the  compara- 
tive value  of  different  processes  of  work,  or  to  invent 
new  ones  when  emergencies  require  it.  In  a  word,  he 
should  be  able  to  reach  just  conclusions  at  once  by  his 
knowledge  of  principles,  and  not  slowly  by  "  trial  and 
error."  He  should  be  workman  enough  to  know  when 
work  is  well  done,  that  he  may  not  be  cheated  by  those 
under  him,  and  that  he  may  be  able  to  render  justice 
unto  all  by  duly  discriminating  between  the  skilled  and 
the  unskilled  laborer.  He  should  understand  his  busi- 
ness as  a  whole,  and  the  relation  of  each  part  to  the 

31 


32  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

whole.  Neither  skilled  workmen  nor  tariffs  can  com- 
pensate for  stupidity  on  the  part  of  the  superintendent. 
Only  the  very  few  exceptional  geniuses,  like  Stephenson, 
become  thus  qualified  to  take  charge  of  enterprises, 
great  or  small,  without  special  school  instruction. 

2.  The   workman   should   not  only  be  dexterous   in 
manipulation  ;  he  should  certainly  know  so  much  of  the 
theory  of  his  business  as  will  enable  him  readily  to  com- 
prehend all  instructions,  verbal  or  graphic,  given  for  his 
guidance.     The  more  extended  and  thorough  his  knowl- 
edge of  principles,  the  better.     Such  a  workman  requires 
very  little  supervision :    he  executes  with  rapidity ;  he 
wastes  the  least  possible ;  he  adapts  himself  readily  to 
new  methods ;    he   devises   novel  and  better  ways  for 
doing  even  the  simplest  things;  he  is  the  first  to  be 
promoted;  he  is  the  last  to  be  discharged;  he  always 
commands    the   best   wages,   and  yet   his  labor  is  the 
cheapest  in  the  market.     On  the  other  hand,  the  work- 
man who  works  only  by  "rule  of  thumb,"  though  he  may 
be  dexterous,  lacks  logic,  lacks  invention,  lacks  adapta- 
bility ;  indeed,  is  only  a  better  kind  of  machine. 

3.  The  workman  should  be  better  instructed  because 
of  the  machinery  used ;    since  it   is   the   rude  or  dex- 
terous   workman,  rather  than  the   really  skilled  work- 
man, who  is   supplanted  by  machinery.     Skilled  labor 
requires  thinking ;  but  a  machine  never  thinks,  never 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          33 

judges,  never  discriminates.  Objects  which  have  a 
simple  and  regular  form,  and  require  high  finish,  or 
not,  may  be  made  with  advantage  by  machinery,  if  the 
objects  are  produced  in  large  numbers.  Most  kinds  of 
work  which  demand  little  besides  strength  for  their 
execution  can  usually  be  best  done  by  machinery  too. 
Though  the  employment  of  machinery  does,  indeed, 
enable  rude  laborers  to  do  many  things  now,  which  for- 
merly could  be  done  only  by  dexterous  workmen,  yet, 
after  making  allowance  for  all  the  bearings  of  the  ques- 
tion, it  is  clear  that  the  use  of  machinery  has  decidedly 
increased  the  relative  demand  for  skilled  labor  as  com- 
pared with  unskilled  labor;  and  there  is  abundant 
room  for  an  additional  increase,  if  it  is  true,  as  declared 
by  the  most  eminent  authority,  that  the  power  now 
expended  can  be  readily  made  to  yield  three  or  four 
times  its  present  results,  and  ultimately  ten  or  twenty 
times,  when  masters  and  workmen  can  be  had  with 
sufficient  intelligence  and  skill  for  the  direction  and 
manipulation  of  the  tools  and  machinery  that  would  be 
invented. 

4.  All  those  persons  whose  business  it  is  to  produce 
new  combinations  of  matter  —  such  as  the  farmer, 
miner,  dyer,  bleacher,  founder,  maker  of  machinery, 
and  numerous  others  —  should  have  a  knowledge  of 
chemistry.  Without  such  knowledge,  which  is  an 


34  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

essential  element  of  skilled  labor  in  these  departments 
of  industry,  neither  rude  nor  dexterous  labor  can  pro- 
duce satisfactory  results. 

5.  The   utmost   effort   should    be    made    to    produce 
articles  of  beautiful  design,  whether  in  form,  or  in  color, 
or  both.     The  difference  between  good  design  and  poor 
design  is  the  difference  between  success  and  failure  in 
the    market  of    the   world.     When    the  beauty  of   the 
object  depends,  as  it  usually  does,  upon  its  own  form, 
or  upon  the  form  of  the  applied  decoration,  the  work- 
man should  be  one  who  has  been  thoroughly  instructed 
in  artistic  drawing  and  designing.     Not  only  should  the 
originator  of  the  design  have  been  thus  instructed,  but 
also  the  reproducer  of  the  design  in  wood,  metal,  earth, 
or  other  substance. 

6.  For  the  most   successful  prosecution  of  any  great 
enterprise  in  land  or  naval  architecture,  in  the  construc- 
tion of   railroads,  canals,   machinery,  there  should  not 
only  be  an  abundance  of  thorough  and  expert  draughts- 
men, but  each  workman  should  be  draughtsman  enough 
to  make  a  drawing  of  any  object  he  is  required  to  con- 
struct.    Of  two  competing  establishments,  the  one  hav- 
ing such  workmen,  the  other  not,  the  former  would  not 
only  win,  but  would  distance  the  latter  every  time. 

It  will  be  seen   that  these   six  points  are  fully  sus- 
tained by  the  testimony  of  the  extracts. 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  35 

BRITISH   OPINIONS  EXPRESSED    BY    CHAMBERS    OF    COM- 
MERCE. 

The  Eight  Hon.  Lord  Kobert  Montagu,  M.P.,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Committee  of  Council  for  Education, 
&c.,  submitted  in  1867,  to  the  Chambers  of  Commerce 
in  Great  Britain,  the  following  questions :  — 

1.  What  trades  are  now  being  injured  by  the  want 
of  a  technical  education  ? 

2.  How,  and  in  what  particulars,  are  they  injured  ? 

3.  How  do  other  countries,  from  their  greater  atten- 
tion to  technical  instruction,  absorb  our  trade  ?     Give 
instances,  and,  if  possible,  statistics. 

4.  What  plan  of  technical  education   would  remedy 
the  evil  ? 

The  replies  to  these  queries,  as  to  technical  education 
were  ordered  by  the  House  of  Commons  to  be  printed, 
March  25,  1868.  A  summary  of  the  replies  will  be 
found  in  the  following  :  — 

Letter  from  the  Chairman  of  the  Association  of  Chambers  of  Com- 
merce of  the  United  Kingdom  to  the  Right  lion.  Lord  Hubert 
Montagu,  M.P. 

MY  LORD,  —  The  Association  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the 
United  Kingdom  have  submitted  the  questions  suggested  by  your 
lordship  to  the  respective  chambers.  It  is  thought  more  con- 
venient to  give  you  a  summary  of  the  answers,  rather  than  to 
trouble  you  with  the  separate  reports,  except  those  from  Netting- 


36  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

ham,  Kendal,  the  Staffordshire  Potteries,  and  Birmingham  ;  in  which 
the  statements  are  more  detailed,  and  are  therefore  forwarded  with 
this  statement  in  the  same  shape  as  received. 

The  Birmingham  report  states,  that  "  every  trade  in  Birming- 
ham and  the  district  is  being  injured  by  the  want  of  technical 
education,  and  those  trades  the  most  in  which  the  cost  of  the 
articles  produced  consists  most  of  labor,  and  least  of  the  raw 
material." 

The  Belfast  Chamber  reports,  that  they  are  not  aware  of 
any  trade  in  Belfast  and  its  neighborhood  being  injured  by  the 
want  of  technical  education;  but  they  are  convinced  that  improved 
education,  both  technical  and  general,  would  indefinitely  increase 
the  industrial  efficiency  of  society. 

"  The  higher  branches  of  industrial  knowledge,  that  is  to  say, 
mathematics,  engineering,  and  chemistry,  both  general  and  as 
applied  to  agriculture,  are  taught  in  the  Belfast  Queen's  College,  in 
a  way  that  we  believe  to  be  most  satisfactory.  But  there  is  no 
adequate  provision  for  the  instruction  in  these  and  similar  branches 
of  any  class  of  society  below  that  which  sends  pupils  to  the  Queen's 
College." 

The  Staffordshire  Potteries  Chamber  replies  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  what  trades  are  now  injured  by  the 
want  of  technical  education.  The  question  would,  perhaps,  have 
been  better  put,  had  it  been  asked  'What  trades  would  be  injured, 
if  they  could  not  have  imported  workmen,  or  the  productions  of 
workmen,  who,  from  having  received  a  better  education  than  the 
workmen  of  this  country,  had  thus  fitted  themselves  to  perform 
duties  which  could  not  be  undertaken  by  our  own  people? '  If  the 
question  be  so  put,  it  is  only  necessary  to  point  out  the  numerous 
cases  in  which  foreign  workmen  are  employed,  and  foreign  designs 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          37 

carried  out,  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  principal  manufactories  of 
this  country,  — work  which  might  have  been  performed  by  English 
workmen,  had  they  been  sufficiently  educated  for  the  purpose  ;  tho 
result  of  which  is  an  increased  expenditure  to  the  manufacturers, 
and,  consequently,  a  greater  inability  on  their  part  to  meet  foreign 
competition,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  resulting  in  loss  to  the 
English  workman  and  the  country  generally.  In  the  Pottery 
district,  several  manufacturers  employ  foreign  workmen  as  painters 
and  designers ;  and,  in  one  manufactory,  a  sum  of  two  thousand 
pounds  a  year  is  paid  to  foreign  workmen." 

In  reply  to  the  second  question,  "  How,  and  in  what  Particulars, 
are  the  Trades  of  this  Country  injured?"  the  general  purport  of 
the  answers  is,  that  among  employers,  foremen,  and  workmen, 
great  deficiencies  exist  in  those  branches  of  knowledge  which  bear 
most  intimately  on  the  great  departments  of  industry.  For  most 
trades,  a  knowledge  of  design,  of  theoretical  and  applied  mechanics, 
and  of  abstract  and  applied  chemistry,  are  of  the  highest  importance. 
The  Sheffield  Chamber  thinks  that  the  steel  trade  would  be  benefited, 
and  strengthened  against  foreign  competition,  if  the  foremen  were 
educated  in  chemistry  and  metallurgy.  The  Wakefield  Chamber 
speaks  of  the  "  want  of  theoretical  and  applied  knowledge  on  the 
part  of  the  workmen  in  the  various  trades  in  which  they  are 
respectively  employed,  particularly  of  mechanical  drawing  as  an 
art,  practical  geometry  required  by  engineers,  cabinet-makers,  and 
mechanics  generally,  and  of  chemistry  practically  applied." 

.With  reference  to  art,  the  Nottingham  Chamber,  while  acknowl- 
edging the  advantages  of  the  present  schools  of  art,  states,  "  that 
the  expense  of  attending  such  schools  is  considered  to  be  too  great, 
and  deters  the  poorer  classes  from  availing  themselves  of  these 
advantages.  It  is  the  opinion  of  this  chamber,  that  our  national 
4 


88  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

system  of  art-instruction  lays  too  great  stress  upon  high  finish  in 
the  execution  of  the  work,  rather  than  upon  a  system  of  work 
which  would  give  our  art-workmen  the  facility  of  rapid  and  intel- 
ligent execution  ;  nor  is  it  successful  in  training  students  sufficiently 
numerous  and  well  educated  to  take  the  places  now  occupied  by 
hundreds  of  French  designers  and  modellers,  and  German  mechan- 
ical draughtsmen.  Greater  facilities  and  more  encouragement 
should  be  given  to  students  of  the  artisan  class;  and  the  present 
system,  however  well  adapted  for  teaching  drawing,  is  not  favorable 
to  the  production  of  designs  with  celerity  and  originality.  It  is 
deemed  desirable  that  prizes  should  be  given  for  sketches  and 
designs  drawn  within  a  limited  time,  and  for  works  from  memory." 

The  answer  of  the  Birmingham  Chamber  is,  that  "  a  large 
proportion  of  the  multitudinous  trades  carried  on  in  this  district 
especially  suffer,  because  so  many  of  our  manufactured  articles  are 
composed  of  a  variety  of  metals  and  other  materials,  which  depend 
for  their  successful  combination  and  treatment  upon  a  knowledge 
of  chemistry  and  other  sciences,  and  the  beauty  of  their  form  on  a 
knowledge  of  art ;  while  our  workmen  have  scarcely  any  knowledge 
of  either,  but  are  guided  in  their  work  by  imitation  of  one  another 
and  tradition." 

Referring  to  the  trades  of  the  Kendal  district  (textile  manufac- 
tures, dyeing,  machine-making,  leather,  and  farming),  the  report  of 
the  Kendal  Chamber  says,  "  In  these,  the  workmen,  as  a  rule, 
arc  unable  to  go  out  of  their  accustomed  groove,  and,  from  want  of 
a  knowledge  of  the  scientific  principles  of  their  trades,  are  con- 
tinually wasting  or  spoiling  material  through  mistakes  which  would 
not  occur  if  they  had  received  a  technical  education. 

"The  want  of  scientific  knowledge,  and  especially  of  chemistry, 
is  a  great  obstacle  to  progress  in  the  manufactures  of  this  district. 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          39 

The  patterns  produced  by  men  who  have  been  trained  in  designing 
and  the  principles  of  color  are  superior  to  those  produced  by  the 
workmen  who  have  not  had  these  advantages.  Many  manufac- 
turers employing  French  artists,  and  others  procure  their  designs 
from  abroad.  The  trade  of  pattern-collecting  is  a  recognized  one  in 
Paris ;  and  the  collector  divides  his  new  patterns  among  his  numer- 
ous correspondents  in  England. 

"  In  dyeing,  the  foreign  dyers,  especially  the  French,  produce 
brighter  colors  than  the  English ;  and  this  is  mainly  in  consequence 
of  the  knowledge  of  chemistry  possessed  by  their  workmen.  The 
specimens  of  manufacture  from  this  locality  exhibited  last  year  in 
Paris  excelled  in  every  thing  but  color. 

"  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  leather  trade,  in  which  the  best 
colored  leather  for  fancy  purposes  is  still  imported  from  France ;  and 
several  of  the  discoveries  for  the  best  treatment  of  fine  leather  have 
been  made  in  France,  in  consequence  of  mere  knowledge  of  chemi- 
cal processes. 

"  In  machine-making,  the  want  of  workmen  who  understand  the 
law,  as  well  as  the  practice,  of  mechanics,  is  severely  felt ;  and  this 
applies  to  all  trades  in  which  machinery  is  used,  especially  in  the 
introduction  of  new  machinery. 

"  In  agriculture,  a  knowledge  of  chemistry  and  natural  science 
would  be  exceedingly  beneficial  to  the  farmer  ;  and  the  need  of  it  is 
becoming  daily  more  and  more  apparent.  Some  of  those  who  have 
attempted  to  carry  out  a  little  knowledge  in  the  neighborhood  have 
been  greatly  benefited  ;  and  larger  and  more  diffused  knowledge  would 
be  of  incalculable  value  in  developing  the  productions  of  the  soil." 

The  Dewsbury  Chamber  states,  that  "ofttimes  woollen  fabrics 
are  spoiled  in  the  dyeing  for  want  of  a  knowledge  of  chemistry. 
Progress  in  the  improvement  of  the  manufacture  of  textile  fabrics 


40  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

is  retarded  by  the  want  of  a  more  intelligent  understanding  by  the 
workmen  of  the  various  processes  ;  and  the  duties  of  workmen  in 
the  engineering  and  machine-making  business  are  imperfectly  dis- 
charged for  want  of  a  better  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
mechanics." 

In  reference  to  the  want  of  mechanical  science,  the  means  of 
instruction  are  most  limited.  The  Nottingham  Report  states,  that 
"  the  machinery,  both  for  the  lace  and  hosiery  manufactures  of  this 
district,  is  of  an  exceedingly  ingenious  and  complex  character ;  but, 
for  want  of  instruction  in  mechanical  science,  the  inventive  power  of 
the  workmen  is  misdirected,  time  is  lost,  many  valuable  inventions 
are  never  perfected,  and,  if  the  desired  improvements  are  at  last 
obtained,  they  are  the  result,  not  of  scientific  induction,  but  of 
numerous  trials  and  failures,  which  a  proper  technical  education 
would  have  rendered  unnecessary." 

The  report  from  the  same  chamber,  referring  to  the  processes  of 
dyeing,  states,  that  "a  knowledge  of  chemistry  is  essentially 
necessary  for  the  carrying-on  successfully  of  these  trades ;  but  such 
knowledge  does  not  generally  exist  amongst  either  the  masters  or 
workmen.  Should  a  master  desire  to  give  his  son  a  thorough 
education  in  practical  chemistry,  he  must  send  him  to  a  distance, 
and  incur  great  expense :  whereas  his  competitors  in  these  arts,  both 
in  France  and  Germany,  can  obtain  the  best  possible  education  on 
the  spot,  and  at  a  cost  of  as  many  shillings  as  it  requires  pounds  in 
England.  The  apprentices  and  artisans  of  Chemnitz,  which  is  the 
great  competing  town  with  Nottingham  in  the  hosiery  trade,  obtain 
a  technical  education  of  the  highest  class  gratis,  when  it  can  be 
shown  that  they  are  meritorious,  and  unable  to  pay  the  small  fee  of 
the  institute.  For  the  same  class  in  Nottingham,  there  is  no  instruc- 
tion tnat  will  at  all  compare  with  it. 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION-.          41 

"  This  chamber  has  no  access  to  statistics  which  would  show  to 
what  extent  our  manufactures  may  have  been  superseded  by  the 
manufactures  of  other  countries ;  but,  in  many  of  our  articles,  we 
find  a  growing  competition  both  in  our  home  and  foreign  markets, 
owing  to  the  superiority  of  design  and  finish  of  certain  classes 
of  goods.  In  those  countries  from  which  we  experience  the 
strongest  competition,  the  work-people  have  the  advantage  of 
excellent  technical  schools,  where  complete  technical  education  can 
be  obtained  at  very  moderate  cost,  and  in  some  cases  free ;  and 
in  addition  to  this,  in  many  parts  of  the  Continent  the  children  of 
the  work-people  have  all  previously  received  good  primary  instruc- 
tion. 

"  It  is  shown  to  this  chamber,  by  the  most  competent  persons, 
that  our  workmen,  generally,  are  utterly  ignorant  of  the  properties  of 
materials  they  are  daily  using,  and  of  the  best  method  of  using  such 
materials,  and  that  all  attempts  at  scientific  teaching  for  the  working- 
classes  will  produce  very  limited  results,  as  compared  with  other 
countries,  until  a  system  of -primary  education,  of  a  more  thorough 
and  comprehensive  character  than  that  which  exists  at  present, 
shall  have  been  introduced." 

The  South  of  Scotland  Chamber  (Hawick)  states,  that  "the 
French  are  very  superior  dyers.  The  manufacturers  of  Verviers 
(Belgium)  have  absorbed  a  large  portion  of  the  woollen-yarn  trade 
of  Scotland,  by  producing  a  superior  article  at  the  price.  One  of 
the  manufacturers  visited  Verviers  lately,  and  was  informed  by  one 
of  the  most  intelligent  manufacturers  there,  that  young  men  who 
had  been  at  the  technical  school  at  Mulheim  had  made  the  great- 
est progress  in  the  business." 

The  Batley  Chamber  believes,  that  "  the  shawl  trade  of  Leeds 
has  been  absorbed  by  Continental  manufacturers  by  reason  of  their 
4* 


42  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

technical  knowledge,  especially  as  respects  the  laws  of  form  and 
color/' 

Even  in  processes  not  connected  with  textile  manufactures,  the 
necessity  of  improved  education  is  insisted  upon  by  Mr.  Freeman 
(Falmouth  Chamber),  who  writes, — 

"  My  experience  here  in  the  management  of  an  extensive  busi- 
ness in  the  granite  trade  leads  me  to  believe  that  technical  education 
would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  working-classes  and  to  the 
trade  generally.  There  has  been  but  little  improvement  in  the 
character  of  the  tools  they  use ;  while  at  the  same  time  there  has 
been  great  improvement  in  the  tools  used  in  America,  by  which  a 
finer  finish  is  given  to  the  work,  and  labor  is  much  diminished. 
Without  some  instruction  to  make  the  young  mechanic  acquainted 
with  the  advantages,  I  see  no  prospect  of  inspiring  him  to  the  use 
of  them,  more  especially  as  the  Trades'  Union  has  great  power  here, 
and  interferes  to  prevent  any  alterations  in  the  process  of  manu- 
facture." 

The  Newcastle  Chamber  writes,  that  although  "  the  want  of 
a  technical  education  amongst  the  persons  employed  here  has  not 
been  generally  felt,  yet  such  manufactories  as  those  for  engineering, 
glass,  earthen-ware,  chemicals,  iron,  and  iron  ship-building,  and 
mines  for  coal,  lead,  iron,  and  minerals  and  clays,  would  benefit 
through  technical  education." 

In  reply  to  the  third  question,  "  How  do  other  Countries,  from 
their  Greater  Attention  to  Technical  Education,  absorb  our  Trade  ?  " 
the  answers  show  that  the  superior  education  afforded  on  the  Conti- 
nent, and  which  is  conducted  with  special  reference  to  industrial 
pursuits,  enables  the  manufacturers  there  to  compete  with  us  in 
departments  of  industry  which  hitherto  we  considered  peculiarly  our 
own. 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          43 

The  Macclesfield  Report  states,  "  that  the  silk  trade  is  injured 
by  a  superior  skill  in  dye  and  finish  on  the  Continent,  causing  a  very 
large  increase  in  foreign  competition,  which  is  aided  by  unequal 
tariffs  and  cheap  labor  abroad." 

The  Wakefield  Chamber  replies,  "  By  possessing  a  thorough 
theoretical  and  practical  knowledge  of  their  several  trades,  the 
designers,  dyers,  and  engineers  in  foreign  countries,  produce  greater 
purity  and  beauty  of  design,  clearer  and  brighter  colors  in  the  cloths 
and  other  fabrics  they  manufacture,  finer  patterns,  and  greater  light- 
ness, with  efficiency  combined,  in  construction,  and  in  a  more  ap- 
proved machinery." 

The  Dewsbury  Chamber  is  of  opinion,  "  that  hitherto  the  heavy 
woollen  trade  of  this  district  has  not  been  absorbed,  to  any  great  de- 
gree, by  the  woollen  manufactories  of  other  countries  ;  but,  in  lighter 
and  more  fancy  fabrics  (textile),  Continental  manufacturers  supersede 
us  by  a  greater  attention  to  art-instruction,  and  the  production  of 
good  colors  in  dyeing." 

The  Kendal  Chamber  says,  "  As  the  trade  of  the  district  is 
principally  confined  to  the  United  Kingdom,  foreign  competition  is 
not  so  severely  felt  as  in  some  other  parts  of  the  country  ;  but  there 
is  no  reason  why,  with  increased  knowledge,  several  branches  of 
trade  that  once  largely  manufactured  for  exportation  should  not 
again  return  to  this  neighborhood." 

The  answer  from  the  Birmingham  Chamber  is  as  follows  :  "In 
other  countries  the  work-people  are  instructed  in  science  and  art : 
the  effect  of  this  is  shown  in  the  rapid  improvement  of  their  manu- 
factures, in  beauty  of  form,  excellence  of  finish,  adaptation  to  the 
purpose  for  which  they  are  intended,  and  cheapness  ;  and  their  excel- 
lences enable  them  now  to  be  in  the  course  of  largely  supplanting 
us  in  the  markets  of  the  world." 


44  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

With  reference  to  the  request  for  statistics,  the  answer  is,  that  the 
Government  has  ample  means  for  ascertaining  the  great  develop- 
ment of  trade  on  the  Continent ;  and  to  the  Birmingham  Report  will 
be  found  appended  a  list  of  articles  made  in  Birmingham  and  the 
hardware  district,  which  are  largely  replaced  in  common  markets  of 
the  world  by  the  productions  of  other  countries,  —  a  list  which  might 
be  considerably  extended. 

With  reference  to  the  fourth  question,  viz.,  "  What  Plan  of  Techni- 
cal Education  would  remedy  the  Evil  ?  "  the  answers  substantially 
agree  in  the  following  propositions:  1st,  THE  NECESSITY  OP 

LARGELY  INCREASED  PRIMARY  EDUCATION  J  2d,  THE  ESTABLISH- 
MENT OF  SCHOOLS  OP  SCIENCE  AND  ART  IN  THE  GREAT  CEN- 
TRES OP  INDUSTRY,  AIDED  BY  GOVERNMENT. 

The  Kendal  Chamber  thus  states  its  views  :  "  The  advantage 
which  it  is  sought  to  obtain  by  an  improved  system  of  technical 
education  is  twofold ;  1st,  It  would  not  only  supply  the  want  of 
such  scientific  knowledge  as  bears  directly  upon  the  art  practised  by 
the  workmen  ;  but,  2d,  It  would  overcome  that  common  contracted- 
ness  of  mind  which  produces  an  inability  to  perceive  the  general 
purpose  of  a  process  apart  from  its  accessories,  that  inaccuracy  in 
detail  which  accompanies  confusion  of  thought,  and  a  want  of 
precision  in  action  and  the  use  of  terms.  Thus  it  is  the  habit  of 
mind  as  well  as  a  deficiency  of  knowledge  which  renders  it  so 
difficult  for  the  average  workman  to  adapt  himself  to  any  improve- 
ment, either  of  process  or  machinery.  This  is  also  the  great  obsta- 
cle to  specific  scientific  instruction. 

"  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  first  object  in  technical 
schools  should  be  to  train  young  men  to  habits  of  accurate  thought, 
and  give  them  that  general  enlargement  of  mind,  without  which 
accuracy  becomes  tyrannical.  To  this  end,  the  elements  of  mathe- 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          45 

matics  should  he  taught  and  developed,  as  far  as  practicable,  in  an 
early  stage  of  education. 

"  Then  there  is,  perhaps,  no  single  acquirement  which  more  ex- 
pands the  mind,  '  by  showing  the  possibility  of  every-day  thought/ 
than  gaining  a  familiarity  with  a  foreign  language.  For  this 
purpose,  the  language  should  be  taught  by  an  intelligent,  well- 
educated  Englishman,  able  to  develop  the  structure  of  his  own 
language,  and  introduce  the  elements  of  comparative  grammar. 

"  Along  with  this  preliminary  course  of  mathematics  and  lan- 
guage, there  should  be  some  instruction  in  the  elements  of  science, 
with  a  view  of  explaining  scientific  method,  rather  than  of  imparting 
definite  instruction.  Then  would  follow  the  higher  development 
and  teaching  of  the  above,  with  more  detailed  and  full  instruction 
in  those  special  sciences  on  which  our  industries  depend. 

"But  the  most  prominent  object  should  be,  in  the  technical 
schools  of  a  high  class,  thoroughly  to  instruct  the  pupils  in  science 
proper. 

"  The  question  now  arises,  How  this  course  of  instruction  is  to 
be  given  to  a  large  number  of  young  men,  without  too  much  interfer- 
ing with  the  practical  learning  of  their  trades  ?  As  some  only  can 
give  their  whole  time  to  study,  it  is  suggested,  that,  as  in  many 
businesses  work  is  not  so  brisk  from  December  to  May  as  during 
the  rest  of  the  year,  it  would  be  possible  for  many  apprentices,  or 
young  men  learners,  to  study  during  five  or  six  winter  months  with- 
out injury  to  business.  Thus  they  would  have  six  months  of 
practical  work  alternately  with  six  months  at  school.  By  this 
means  they  could  apply  their  technical  or  scientific  knowledge,  from 
time  to  time,  more  efficiently  than  they  would  be  able  to  do  by  any 
directly  technical  instruction  given  in  a  continuous  course  of  school 
education.  Besides,  coming  from  the  application  of  acquired  knowl- 


46  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

edge  back  again  to  the  fount,  they  perceive  the  object  to  be 
attained  by  further  investigation,  and  better  appreciate  what  they 
have  to  learn  by  having  experienced  already  how  usefully  knowledge 
can  be  applied. 

"  It  would  be  a  great  boon  to  the  poorer  students,  who  would 
thus  provide  the  expense  of  half  a  year's  instruction  by  the  labor 
of  the  other  half,  as  has  often  been  done  by  earnest  students  at  the 
Scotch  universities. 

"  At  first,  high-class  technical  schools  could  only  be  established 
in  large  towns  ;  but  by  degrees,  as  the  number  of  competent  teachers 
increased,  they  should  be  extended,  and  schools  should  be  eventually 
established  for  the  preliminary  courses  in  every  town  in  the 
kingdom. 

"  As  other  associations  will  deal  with  the  necessity  of  an  infinitely 
higher  class  of  elementary  education  being  requisite  than  what  is  at 
present  taught,  should  Parliament  establish  a  system  of  national 
education,  chambers  of  commerce  may  limit  their  observations  to  a 
government  system  applicable  to  purely  technical  instruction. 

"  In  France,  government  aid  is  given  by  competitive  exhibitions, 
varying  in  amount  from  a  fourth  of  the  cost  of  education  to  a  full 
payment  of  the  whole  of  the  fees.  A  similar  endowment  of  merit 
is  attached  to  technical  colleges,  where  the  students  are  taught, 
boarded,  and  clothed.  Such  a  plan  enables  the  cleverest  youths  in 
the  humbler  classes  to  obtain  the  best  instruction.  By  means  of 
communal  funds,  schoolhouses  have  been  erected,  and  masterships 
established.  The  Government  has  also  supplied  professors  to 
departmental  and  local  schools. 

"If  a  board  of  education  be  established  in  each  county,  or 
division  of  a  county,  in  England,  the  best  school  within  its  district 
should  have  connected  with  it  a  technical  department.  The  mode 
of  providing  the  funds  is  one  for  the  legislature  to  settle. 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          47 

"In  districts  and  towns  where  the  population  is  engaged  in  trade, 
the  Government  might  aid,  in  terminable  loans  at  a  low  rate,  the 
erection  of  school-buildings  ;  attaching  to  such  schools  queen's  med- 
als and  exhibitions  for  successful  students  in  science  and  art. 

"  So  stimulated,  partly  by  school-fees  and  the  payment  by  the 
employer  of  the  fees  of  clever  youths,  together  with  endowments  by 
liberal  and  prosperous  men  of  business,  technical  and  scientific 
schools  may  be  expected  to  spring  up  if  properly  qualified  teachers 
can  be  found." 

The  following  resolution  was  passed  at  a  special  meeting  of  the 
Birmingham  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Jan.  10,  1868  :  — 

"  That  the  council  be  instructed  to  request  the  Association  of 
Chambers  of  Commerce  to  inform  Lord  Ilobert  Montagu,  M.P., 
that,  in  the  opinion  of  this  chamber,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  government  schools  of  science  should  be  established  in  the 
great  centres  of  industry,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  systematic 
technical  education  both  to  the  middle  and  working  classes. 

"  The  chamber  wish  it  to  be  understood,  that,  by  the  term 
*  technical  education/  they  mean  both  artistic  and  scientific  instruc- 
tion." 

The  Nottingham  Chamber  is  of  opinion  that  the  education 
should  be  "  of  a  thorough  and  useful  character,  and  in  all  cases 
taught  with  a  view  to  its  application  to  arts  and  manufactures. 
Which  of  the  Continental  schools  does  this  most  effectually,  the 
Government,  with  the  resources  at  its  command,  will  ascertain 
without  difficulty.  But  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  such 
institutions  should  be  established  immediately,  that  they  should  be 
in  no  wise  inferior  to  the  best  Continental  schools,  and  that  they 
should  be  equally  cheap  and  accessible." 

The  Batley   Chamber  recommends,  that  "  a  central  establish- 


48  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

ment  should  be  organized  and  carried  on  in  some  town  (say  Leeds) 
for  this  district,  and  that  other  places  in  the  district  should  be 
affiliated  to  it  on  certain  conditions.  Local  classes  might  be  held 
in  the  day  and  night  schools,  or  in  mechanics'  institutes.  We 
think  part  of  the  cost  should  be  paid  by  Government,  and  other 
part  by  fees  from  pupils.  The  direction  and  supervision  of  the  local 
classes  might  (we  think)  be  left  to  local  managers  ;  but  we  think 
the  central  school  should  be  in  the  hands  of  some  department  of 
Government." 

The  Hawick  Chamber,  after  making  a  similar  recommendation, 
adds,  "  To  enable  the  working-classes  to  reap  the  full  benefit  of 
the  technical  schools,  a  thorough  system  of  national  education  is 
required;  but  there  should  be  no  delay  in  establishing  the  schools, 
as  there  are  already  numbers  of  workmen  sufficiently  well  educated 
to  take  advantage  of  them." 

The  Macclesfield  Chamber  recommends,  "  that  the  present  system 
of  primary  education  should  be  consolidated,  and  made  compulsory, 
so  as  to  insure  such  education  being  given  to  every  child  in  the 
State. 

"  That  local  efforts  for  secondary  or  technical  education  should 
be  supplemented  by  government  assistance  by  way  of  annual 
grants,  loans,"  &c. 

The  Sheffield  Chamber  recommends  the  establishment,  in  that 
distiict,  of  "  schools  of  chemistry  and  metallurgy  in  connection 
•with  the  school  of  art,  but  which,  if  they  are  to  succeed,  must  not 
depend  for  their  support  on  private  contributions." 

The  Wakefield  Chamber  thinks  that  the  Government  ought  to 
establish,  in  all  the  great  centres  of  industryin  the  United  Kingdom, 
schools  equal  to  the  best  technical  schools  in  France,  Switzerland, 
Prussia,  and  Saxony. 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          49 

The  Belfast  Chamber,  on  the  other  hand,  states,  "  We  do  not 
see  our  way  as  yet  to  recommend  the  introduction  of  any  system  of 
'  trade-schools '  into  Ireland.  The  subject  of  technical  education  is  so 
new  to  the  people  of  this  country,  that  we  cannot  feel  sure  that  such 
schools  would  be  appreciated  and  supported.  What  we  would 
suggest  as  most  practicable  and  desirable  is  an  extension  of  the 
course  in  the  national  schools,  so  as  to  bring  instruciion  in  elemen- 
tary geometry  and  algebra,  mensuration,  mechanical  and  free-hand 
drawing,  and  bookkeeping,  which  branches  form  the  basis  of  all 
technical  education  within  the  reach  of  all  children,  in  towns  at 
least,  who  can  give  the  necessary  time." 

The  Coventry  Chamber  has  passed  the  following  resolution 
unanimously  :  "  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  chamber,  it  is  es- 
sentially necessary  that  schools  for  technical  education  should  be 
established  in  the  different  manufacturing  towns;  and  that  the 
special  schools  which  would  be  most  beneficial  to  this  city  and 
neighborhood  comprise  those  for  teaching  elementary  chemistry, 
texile  manufactures,  practical  mechanics,  and  horology." 

The  Devvsbury  Chamber  recommends  "local  schools  for  the 
instruction  of  artisans  in  the  principles  of  their  respective  trades, — 
such  schools  to  be  partially  supported  by  local  rates,  and  supple- 
mented by  government  grants,  —  together  with  a  central  school,  to 
which  more  advanced  students  might  be  sent  to  receive  further 
education  in  science  and  art." 

The  Staffordshire  Potteries  Chamber  consider  that  "  a  plan  of 
education  which  would  remedy  this  evil  would  be  to  establish  a 
system  of  education  in  this  country,  in  art  and  science,  which  would 
render  it  unnecessary  for  manufacturers  to  employ  foreign  talent. 
This  could  only  be  done  by  a  national  system  of  primary  and 
technical  education  throughout  the  country,  supported,  so  far  as  is 
5 


50  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

necessary,  from  a  fund  to  which  all  should  contribute;  for,  if  the 
future  national  prosperity  of  the  manufacturing  and  trading 
interests  of  this  country  is  supposed  to  depend  upon  a  more  efficient 
system  of  technical  education,  the  expense  of  supporting  it  ought  to 
devolve  upon  the  nation  at  large,  and  not,  as  has  hitherto  in  a 
great  measure  been  the  case,  on  individuals  and  localities.  Pri- 
mary education  ought  to  be  one  of  the  first  considerations,  —  be 
made  compulsory,  as  far  as  possible,  with  scholarships  attached  to 
these  schools,  so  as  to  enable  scholars  to  obtain  by  diligence  a  free 
education  in  the  higher  branches.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
trades'  unions  have  injuriously  affected  most  of  the  trades  of  this 
country ;  but  a  good  system  of  education  would,  in  all  probability, 
have  a  very  strong  tendency  to  do  away  with  some  of  the  most 
objectionable  rules  at  present  existing  in  these  unions." 

In  addition  to  these  evidences  of  the  general  feeling  among 
chambers  of  commerce  in  all  parts  of  the  country  in  behalf  of 
technical  education,  the  Committee  of  the  Associated  Chambers 
(appointed  specially  to  consider  the  question)  have  passed  the 
following  resolution :  "  That,  whilst  the  details  of  a  comprehen- 
sive plan  of  technical  education  must  be  the  subject  of  minute 
examination,  the  Government  be  urged  to  direct  its  attention  at 
once  to  the  systematic  training  of  professors  of  theoretical  and 
applied  science,  and  to  give  increased  assistance,  beyond  that 
conferred  by  the  late  minute  on  science  schools  (21st  December, 
1867),  to  all  serious  local  efforts  to  establish  and  extend  the  teaching 
of  science  and  art." 

Signed  on  behalf  of  the  Association, 

SAMPSOX  S.  LLOYD,  CJiairman. 
Association  of  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the 

United  Kingdom,  29  Parliament  Street,  8.W.,  Feb.  10,  1868. 


VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          51 

Reference  is  made  in  the  preceding  letter  to  a  list 
of  articles  furnished  by  the  Birmingham  Chamber  of 
Commerce.  It  is  as  follows  :  — 

List  of  some  articles  made  in  Birmingham  and  the  hardioare  district, 
which  are  largely  replaced  in  common  markets  of  the  world  by  the 
productions  of  other  countries.  This  list  might  be  immensely  extended 
by  farther  investigation,  which  the  shortness  of  time  did  not  permit. 

ARTICLES,  OR  CLASS  OF  ARTICLES.  COUNTRIES. 

Carpenters'    tools;     as    hammers, 

pliers,    pincers,  compasses,  hand    Germany,  chiefly. 

and  bench  vices. 
Chains  of  light  descriptions,  where 

the  cost  is  more  in  labor  than   in 

material;   as  halter- chains    and     Ge™^y. 

cow-ties,  and  such  like. 

Fry-pans  of  fine  finish.  France. 

Wood-handled  spades  and  shovels, 

an  article  of  very  large  consump-    Uuited  States  exP°rt  them  to  al1 

tion.  our  colonies. 

Hoes  for  cotton  and  other  purposes,     Unltod  States  coraPete  with  us  for 

an  article  of  large  consumption.          thelr  own  use'  and  to  some  ex~ 

tent  for  export. 

Axes  for  felling  trees,  &c.,  an  article  United  States  supply  our  colonies 
of  large  consumption.  and  the  world  with  best  article. 

Carpenters'    broad  -  axes,     carpen- 
ters' and  coopers'   axes,  coopers' 

tools  (various  sorts;,  shoemakers'  Germany  aad  ^  United  States, 
hammers  and  tools. 

Matchets  for  cutting  sugar-canes,  an 

important  article.  Believed  to  be  now  Germany. 

United     States    export    to    South 

uls'  cut  America  and  our  colonies. 

Nails,  wrought.  Belgium. 

French  and  Belgian  largely  super- 
Nails,  point  de  Pans  (wire  nails).  gede  English< 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 


ARTICLES,  OR  CLASS  OF  ARTICLES. 

Horse-nails. 

Pumps,  of  various  sorts. 


Agricultural  implements,— ploughs, 
cotton-gins,  cultivators,  kibbling- 
machines,  corn-crushers,  churns, 
rice  -hullers,  mowing-machines, 
hay-rakes. 

Sewing-machines. 

Lamps  for  use  with  petroleum,  now 
an  article  of  very  large  consump- 
tion ;  lamps  for  the  table. 

Tin  -  ware,  —  tinned  spoons  and 
cooks'  ladles,  various  culinary 
articles  of  fine  manufacture  and 
finish. 

Locks,  —  door-locks,  chest  -  locks, 
drawer-locks,  cupboard-locks,  hi 
great  variety. 

Door-latches,  in  great  variety. 

Curry-combs. 

Traps,  —  rat,  beaver,  and  fox. 

Hinges,  in  wrought  iron,  for  doors, 
grates,  &c.,  in  great  variety, 
gimlets,  and  augers  (twisted). 

Brass  foundry  (cast),  as  hinges, 
brass  hooks,  and  casters  (great 
variety),  door  -  buttons,  sash- 
fasteners,  and  a  great  variety  of 
other  articles. 

Brass  foundry  (stamped),  as  cur- 
tain pins  and  bands,  cornices, 
gilt  beading,  and  a  great  variety 
of  other  brass  foundry. 


COUNTRIES. 
Beautifully  made  by  machinery  in 

the  United  States. 
Largely  exported  by  United  States. 
[NOTE.  —  An     American      pump 

found  water  for  the  Abyssinian 

expedition.] 

Many  articles  similar  to  these  aro 
exported  by  United  States  to 
common  markets. 

United  States. 

The  United-States  petroleum  lamps 
supplant  the  English  in  India  and 
China;  French  even  imported  to 
England. 

France. 


United  States,France,and  Germany. 

United  States  export  to  Canada. 
United  States  and  France. 
United  States  export  to  Canada. 

United  States  export  to  Canada, 
and  probably  elsewhere. 

These  articles,  in  great  variety,  are 
now  extensively  exported  from 
Germanv  and  France. 


These  articles,  in  great  variety,  are 
now  extensively  exported  from 
Germany  and  France. 


VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION. 


53 


ARTICLES,  OK  CLASS  OF  ARTICLES 

Needles.  An  article  of  large  con- 
sumption. 

Fish-hooks. 

Guns.  A  great  variety  of  sport- 
ing guns,  articles  of  large  con- 
sumption, formerly  entirely  from 
Birmingham. 

Breech-loading  muskets,  revolver 
pistols. 

Watches. 

Clocks. 


Iron. 

Glass  for  windows,  an  article   of 

large  consumption,  spectacle  and 

all  other  glasses. 
Table  glass. 
Swords. 

Jewelry,  —  gold  and  gilt,  fancy 
steel ;  these  in  very  great  variety. 

Small  steel  trinkets,  as  bag  and 
purse  clasps,  steel  buttons  and 
chains,  key-rings,  and  other  fast- 
enings, and  many  others  in  great 
variety. 

Leather  bags,  with  clasps,  purses. 
&c.,  courier  bags,  &c. 

Buttons,  mother-o'-pearl. 

Buttons,  horn. 

Buttons,       porcelain        (formerly 

Minton's  of  Stoke). 
Steel  buttons  (formerly  Bolton  and 

Watts). 


COUNTRIES. 

Mostly  from  Germany  (Rhenish  Prus- 
sia); even  imported  to  England. 
Believed  Germany. 

Now  exported  largely  from  Liege, 
Belgium,  and  St.  Etienne,  France. 

United  States. 

Switzerland  and  France,  even  im- 
ported into  England. 

United  States  and  France. 

[NOTE.  —  Watches  made  in  United 
States  interchangeable  by  ma- 
chinery.] 

Belgium. 

Belgium  supplants  ours  in  our  own 
colonies. 

Believed  to  be  Belgium  and  France. 

Prussia  and  Belgium. 

France  and  Germany.  These  arti- 
cles are  even  imported  into  Eng- 
land. 

France  and  Germany;  many  of 
these  even  imported  into  Eng- 
land. 

Austria,  France,  and  Prussia.  We 
believe  about  all  these  articles 
sold  in  England  are  imported. 

Vienna,  imported  to  England. 

France,  imported  to  England. 

France  entirely  superseded  English, 
and  imported  to  England  largely. 

France. 


54 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 


ARTICLES,  OK  CLASS  OF  ARTICLES. 
Florentine  or  lasting  coat-buttons. 
Steel  pens,  penholders. 
Brass  scales  and  weights. 
Cutler\r,  in  great  variety,  —scissors, 

light  edge  tools,  such  as  chisels, 

&c. 
Pins  for  piano-strings,  and    other 

small  fittings  for  pianos. 
Silver  wire  for  binding  the  bass 

strings  of  pianos,  &c. 
Iron  gas-tubing. 

Klastic  bells,  with  metal  fastenings. 
Brass  chandeliers  and  gas-fittings. 
Harness  buckles  and  furniture. 
German  silver,  —  spoons,  forks,  &c. 
Locks,  —  best    trunk  -  locks,    best 

door  and  cabinet  locks. 
Umbrella  furniture. 
Horn  combs. 

Pearl  and  tortoise-shell  articles. 
Iron  wire. 

Iron  and  brass  hooks  and  eyes. 
Bronzed  articles. 
Hollow-wares,  enamelled. 
Optical  instruments. 
Mathematical  instruments. 
Japanned  wares. 
Bits  and  stirrups. 
Coach-springs  and  axle-trees. 
Electro-p^ted    wares,     customers 

preferring  French  goods. 
Gas-fittings. 
Weighing-machines. 
Plumbers'  brass  foundry. 
Table  glass  ware. 
Doors,  locks. 
Machines  for  domestic  purposes,  as 

sausage-machines,     coffee-mills, 

and  washing-machines. 


COUNTRIES. 
Germany. 
France. 
France. 

Germany. 

France. 
France. 

Germany. 

Germany. 

Prussia  and  France. 

Prussia  and  France. 

France,  Austria,  and  Prussia. 

Prussia  and  France. 

France  and  Prussia 
Prussia. 

France  and  Austria, 
Prussia  and  Belgium. 
Prussia  and  France. 
Prussia  and  France. 
Prussia  and  France. 
France,  Austria,  and  Bavaria. 
France,  Austria,  and  Bavaria. 
Germany  and  France. 
Belgium  and  France. 
France. 

France 

United  States. 
United  States. 
United  States. 
United  States. 
United  States. 

United  States. 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          55 

ARTICLES,  OR  CLASS  OF  ARTICLES.  COUNTRIES. 

Nuts  and  bolts.  United  States. 

Penknives  and  scissors.  United  States. 

Stamped       brass-ware       (certain    United  states. 

kinds). 
American  "notions,"  as  buckets, 

clothes-pegs,  washing-machines,     United  States. 

agricultural  machines. 


THE   WORSTED    TRADE    OF    BRADFORD. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Jacob  Behrens  to  Lord 
Robert  Montagu,  Vice-President  of  the  Committee  of 
Council  on  Education,  England,  gives  an  interesting 
account  of  the  worsted  trade  of  Bradford.  The  great 
success  of  the  past  is  largely  due  to  a  limited  amount 
of  technical  instruction,  which  must  be  hereafter  in- 
creased, or  Bradford  will  lose  her  pre-eminence. 

BRADFORD,  Jan.  24,  1868. 

MY  LORD,  —  By  a  circular  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Associa- 
tion of  Chambers  of  Commerce  has  addressed  to  the  various  cham- 
bers, it  was  intimated  that  you  desire  to  receive  answers  to  the  fol- 
lowing four  questions  :  — 

1st,  What  trades  are  now  injured  by  the  want  of  technical  edu- 
cation ? 

2d,  How,  and  in  what  particular,  are  they  injured  ? 

3d,  How  do  other  countries,  from  their  greater  attention  to 
technical  education,  absorb  our  trades  ?  Give  instances,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, statistics. 

4th,  What  plan  of  technical  education  would  remedy  the  evil  ? 


56  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

As  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Technical  Education  which 
was  appointed  by  the  Associated  Chambers  in  November  last,  I  had 
to  consider  these  four  important  questions  ;  but,  having  long  taken 
an  active  interest  in  all  matters  relating  to  education,  I  venture  to 
trouble  your  lordship  with  my  own  personal  views,  without  in  any 
way  prejudging  the  answer  which  the  Committee  will,  no  doubt,  be 
prepared  to  return. 

In  discussing  these  questions  from  an  essentially  local  point  of 
view,  I  shall  be  able  to  enter  into  details  which  cannot  be  included 
in  an  answer  from  a  body  representing  all  the  trades  and  industries 
in  the  United  Kingdom. 

I  also  suppose,  that,  in  addressing  all  the  chambers  of  commerce, 
it  was  desired  to  elicit  information  with  reference  to  the  local  want 
of  technical  education  at  the  principal  seats  of  trade,  which,  when 
collected,  may  enable  the  Council  for  Education  to  obtain  a  general 
view  of  the  wants  of  the  whole  country. 

Before  answering  the  four  questions,  I  must  beg  permission  to 
suggest  that  a  great  service  would  be  rendered  to  the  public  by  the 
statement  of  the  exact  meaning  which  the  council  attach  to  the 
words  "  technical  education." 

In  the  absence  of  any  such  precise  definition,  almost  every  dis- 
cussion upon  this  subject  (and  hardly  a  day  passes  without  it  being 
referred  to  in  public)  degenerates  into  a  discussion  on  education  in 
general. 

Your  lordship  will  perceive  that  I  have  used  the  term  in  a  wider 
sense  than  as  the  merely  practical  and  theoretical  teaching  of 
mechanical  and  chemical  science. 

In  answer  to  the  first  two  questions,  I  may  state  that  the  princi- 
pal industry  of  this  town  and  district  is  the  manufacture  of  worsted 
goods,  and  that  perhaps  in  no  other  trade  has  the  absence  of  scien- 
tific instruction  been  less  injurious  to  a  more  rapid  development. 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          57 

Nor  can  we  complain  of  that  trade  being  materially  injured  by 
the  want  of  technical  education  ;  for  the  worsted  trade  of  this  neigh- 
borhood is  yet  the  largest  in  the  world,  and  has  been  estimated  to 
amount  to  thirty-three  million  six  hundred  thousand  pounds  in  1864. 

Notwithstanding  this  satisfactory  condition  of  our  trade,  signs 
are  not  wanting,  and  they  are  perfectly  palpable  to  every  one  en- 
gaged in  the  export  trade,  that  other  countries  are  endeavoring 
keenly  to  dispute  our  pre-eminence. 

If  we  have  attained  our  present  position  in  spite  of  a  deficient 
state  of  theoretical  instruction  (and  I  believe  in  no  other  great  seat 
of  industry  have  there  been  fewer  schools  of  science  than  in  this 
part  of  Yorkshire),  the  practical  education  as  given  in  our  factories 
must  have  been  extremely  good. 

We  must,  however,  remember,  that,  until  lately,  we  had  great  and 
exceptional  facilities  for  the  worsted  trade ;  which,  by  degrees,  became 
concentrated  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Bradford  and  Halifax. 

The  population  of  this  district  has  for  centuries  been  trained  in  the 
combing,  spinning,  weaving,  and  dyeing  of  the  long  wool  grown  in 
this  and  some  neighboring  counties,  and  nowhere  out  of  England. 

Machine-combing,  the  power-loom,  and  the  invention  in  dyeing, 
hereinafter  referred  to,  gave  an  immense  impetus  to  our  trade ;  and 
thus  Bradford,  which  in  1831  had  only  43,527  inhabitants,  num- 
bered 106,218  in  1861 ;  and  130,000  is  a  moderate  computation  for 
the  present. 

Our  being  first  in  the  field  gave  us  many  advantages,  and  we 
have  thus  not  felt  the  pressure  of  foreign  competition  so  soon  as 
some  other  industries ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  superiority  which 
we  still  claim,  we  are  conscious  that  we  cannot  afford  to  go  on  in 
the  old  way  much  longer. 

We  not  only  export  the  machinery  which  enables  our  competi- 


58  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

tors  abroad  to  comb,  spin,  and  weave  in  the  same  manner  tbat  we 
do ;  but  our  superior  workmen  accompany  these  machines  to  teach 
foreigners  how  to  use  them. 

Our  operative  dyers,  although,  as  a  rule,  ignorant  of  tbe  first  prin- 
ciples of  chemistry,  have  invented  a  very  ingenious  process  by  which 
vegetable  and  animal  fibres  can  be  dyed  together,  and  have  become 
so  skilful  in  this  branch  of  their  trade,  that  our  black  and  color  dyers 
find  employment  at  high  wages  all  over  the  continent  of  Europe. 

The  machines  we  export  are,  in  many  cases,  worked  by  persons 
possessing  a  superior  education,  and,  consequently,  a  more  developed 
intellect  than  our  ordinary  mill-hands  ;  and,  above  all,  the  owners 
and  managers  of  many  foreign  factories  apply  the  results  of  their 
scientific  training  to  our  machines,  and  improve  them  to  a  degree 
which  already  compels  us  to  acknowledge  a  marked  superiority  in 
some  of  their  productions. 

Foreign  dyers,  possessing  a  thorough  knowledge  of  chemistry, 
have  brought  the  finish  of  worsted  goods  to  a  perfection  which  we 
do  not  equal ;  and  foreign  pattern-designers,  who  appear  to  possess 
a  more  cultivated  taste  than  ours,  show  by  their  productions  that 
they  know  how  to  apply  it  for  the  benefit  of  their  employers. 

Special  instances  of  superior  foreign  workmanship  are  not  un- 
common, but  each  may  be  the  result  of  various  causes ;  and  it  is 
perhaps  impossible  in  any  one  case  to  ascribe  it  to  the  superior  tech- 
nical education  of  our  competitors  alone. 

But,  whatever  may  be  the  cause,  competition  on  the  part  of  for- 
eign countries  has  become  a  serious  fact,  which  deserves  our  most 
earnest  consideration. 

The  mills  at  Rheims  produce,  from  Australian  wools,  merinos, 
the  perfection  of  which  we  have  never  been  able  to  approach. 

The  worsted  mills  at  Notts,  in  Belgium,  employ  the  same  kind  of 


VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          59 

weft  and  warp  as  we  do,  but  weave  fancy  goods  which  arc  preferred 
to  ours  in  neutral  markets,  such  as  Switzerland  and  others. 

Germany,  and  principally  Saxony,  import  annually  above  five 
million  pounds'  worth  of  our  worsted  yarns  ;  of  which  a  great  part 
is  re-exported  to  the  United  States,  manufactured  into  fancy  goods. 

Thousands  of  pieces  of  Orleans  (cotton  and  worsted  woven  to- 
gether) are  every  year  sent  to  France  to  be  dyed  and  finished  there, 
which  would  not  be  done  if  the  French  had  not  improved  upon  the 
original  invention  of  our  operative  dyers. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  in  some,  even  in  most  instances,  the 
superiority  of  foreign  produce  may  consist  merely  in  a  more  careful 
attention  to  what  we  are  here  too  much  in  the  habit  of  considering 
small  matters.  Sometimes  it  is  the  finish,  or  a  closer  study  of  each 
country's  peculiar  taste  or  special  requirements ;  but,  in  the  aggre- 
gate, the  results  are  important  enough  to  obtain  in  many  cases  the 
preference  in  neutral  markets  for  the  goods  which  have  had  the  bene- 
fit of  such  attention  or  such  study. 

It  may  therefore  be  reasonably  assumed  that  the  owners  of  these 
establishments,  having  derived  their  practical  instruction  from  us, 
were  frequently  able  to  improve  upon  our  praciice  by  their  having  hud 
the  further  benefit  of  a  superior  system  of  primary  and  secondary  ed- 
ucation, and  by  taking  advantage  of  the  many  means  that  are  offered 
to  them  for  the  acquirement  of  technical  and  scientific  knowledge. 

The  ready  access  to  museums  and  art  galleries,  with  which  many 
of  them  are  privileged,  affords  facilities  for  educating  and  cultivat- 
ing their  taste,  which  must  also  be  a  great  advantage  to  them. 

It  is  perfectly  clear,  that  we  shall  have  to  adopt  similar  means  of 
improvement  if  we  wish  to  maintain  and  improve  our  position  ;  but, 
unfortunately,  we  do  not  at  present  possess  the  appliances  for  educa- 
tion which  alone  can  make  commerce  and  industry  a  liberal  profession. 


60  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

Our  local  teaching  of  science  is  so  imperfect,  that  our  master- 
dyers,  who  require  to  introduce  a  more  scientific  element  into  their 
establishments,  cannot  find  amongst  their  men,  and  amongst  the 
youths  in  the  neighborhood,  the  acquaintance  with  the  principles  of 
chemistry  and  physical  science  which  is  necessary  for  the  delicate 
adjustment  of  the  chemical  agents  they  have  to  deal  with. 

Not  confining  my  definition  of  technical  education  to  mechanics 
and  chemistry,  but  including  in  it  the  training  for  commercial  pur- 
suits, I  may  state  that  the  ignorance  of  modern  languages,  of  the 
geography  and  the  laws  and  customs  of  foreign  nations,  which  is 
yet  prevalent  amongst  the  rising  generation,  even  of  the  affluent 
classes,  is  a  great  bar  to  their  commercial  progress,  and  has  been 
one  great  means  of  throwing  almost  the  whole  of  our  Continental 
export  trade  into  the  hands  of  foreigners  residing  in  this  town. 

We  feel  that  a  better  preparation  for  the  trade  or  industry  in 
which  we  are  engaged  would  enable  us  to  meet  foreign  competition 
with  a  better  chance  of  success,  and  that  the  absence  of  such  train- 
ing must  be  injurious  to  the  best  interests  of  England. 

Our  young  men  who  are  to  become  the  future  masters  of  the 
large  factories  erected  by  their  fathers,  even  those  who  have  had  the 
questionable  advantage  of  a  so-called  first-rate  commercial  education, 
require,  in  addition,  a  thorough  scientific  training  to  enable  them  to 
meet  on  equal  terms  the  young  men  of  the  same  class  abroad. 

They  leave  school  early,  and  are  taught  in  their  father's  mill  the 
father's  trade,  in  the  same  practical  manner  in  which  he  himself  has 
learned  it,  and  which  has  enabled  him  to  rise  to  his  present  position, 
when  England  possessed  exceptional  advantages  over  all  other 
countries. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  something  more  is  required,  if 
the  young  men  of  the  rising  generation  are  to  maintain  the  position 
created  for  them  by  their  fathers. 


VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL   INSTRUCTION.          61 

The  answers  given  to  the  first  two  questions  apply  also  to  the 
third ;  but  I  may  mention  that  the  trade  of  Bradford  is  not  "  ab- 
sorbed" by  any  other  place  or  country. 

We  may  have  abandoned  the  manufacture  of  some  articles  for 
which  other  places  appear  to  have  superior  natural  or  social  facilities  ; 
but  we  have  created  other  branches,  which,  in  ordinary  times,  give 
more  than  sufficient  employment  to  a  rapidly  increasing  population. 

We  feel  nevertheless,  and  very  keenly,  that,  even  in  the  produc- 
tion of  articles  in  which  we  excel,  we  begin  to  be  very  hardly  pressed 
by  other  countries,  which,  until  lately,  were  very  far  behind  us, 
—  particularly  by  Germany,  Belgium,  and  France. 

When  we  examine  into  the  causes  of  their  success,  we  find  that 
they  all  have  one  advantage  which  we  do  not  possess;  namely,  a 
better  system  of  technical  education. 

Considering,  also,  that  fifty  years  of  peace,  and  the  application 
of  steam  as  a  motive-power  and  to  locomotion,  have  in  a  great 
measure  deprived  England  of  the  exceptional  privileges  which  she 
possessed  formerly  in  her  accumulated  wealth  and  in  her  geographi- 
cal position,  we  are  naturally  anxious  that  others  shall  not  outstrip 
us  in  the  race  by  means  of  superior  training. 

Although  the  same  kind  of  loom  will  work  equally  well  in  Eng- 
land as  in  Saxony,  there  will  be  a  great  difference,  whether  the 
overlooker  who  superintends  its  working,  and  even  the  weaver  who 
attends  upon  it,  are  intelligently  trained  workmen,  or  mere  automata. 

The  man  who  understands  the  construction  not  only  of  this  par- 
ticular loom,  but  that  of  all  other  looms,  must  be  a  more  efficient 
overlooker,  or  manager,  than  the  mere  mechanic  of  our  factories. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  disadvantages  connected  with  the 
merely  practical  training  of  our  dyers,  and  to  the  necessity  for 
their  obtaining  a  scientific  knowledge  of  their  trade. 


62  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

The  German  clerk  —  who  has  a  good  knowledge  of  three  or  four 
languages,  who  has  been  taught  to  understand  the  working  of  the 
exchanges  in  the  whole  world,  the  tariffs  of  different  countries,  and 
their  commercial  laws  and  usages — will  find  employment,  and  rise 
into  an  important  position  or  to  independence,  much  sooner  than 
the  English  clerk,  who  has  not  received  the  same  educational 
advantages. 

We  expect  a  remedy  for  all  these  evils  from  the  movement  which 
is  now  making  such  auspicious  progress;  and  it  may  not  be  out 
of  place  to  mention  the  fact,  that  an  attempt  to  impart  technical 
instruction  has  been  signall  successful  in  Bradford. 

Years  ago  it  was  felt  that  some  artistic  education  had  become 
necessary,  if  we  wished  to  retain  even  a  portion  of  our  fancy  trade. 

Schools  of  design  and  a  school  of  art  were  established  ;  and, 
though  not  numerously  attended,  they  were  very  useful  by  giving 
to  our  pattern-designers  a  better  knowledge  of  forms  and  of  the 
proper  combination  of  colors. 

Much  more  in  the  same  direction  is  wanted  ;  but  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  ascribing  a  considerable  part  of  our  past  success  in  the 
production  of  fancy  goods  to  the  influence  of  these  schools,  and 
cannot  but  believe  that  equal,  or  even  greater  or  more  lasting,  benefits 
would  be  derived  from  facilities  being  offered  for  the  acquirement 
of  the  scientific  knowledge  of  the  principles  which  we  have  to  carry 
into  practice. 

The  fourth  question  involves  the  whole  problem  which  now 
occupies  so  much  of  the  public  mind  ;  and  he  would  be  a  bold  man 
who  undertook  to  answer  it  categorically. 

We  are  all  anxiously  waiting  for  the  TCcport  from  the  School  In- 
quiry Commissioners,  and  for  answers  to  a  circular  issued  bv  Lord 
Stanley  to  her  Majesty's  Foreign  Legations,  with  reference  to 
technical  education  abroad. 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          63 

After  having  obtained  these  documents,  we  shall  be  better  pre- 
pared to  study  the  whole  question,  and  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the 
system  of  technical  education  we  may  prefer. 

But  I  believe,  whatever  may  be  the  tenor  of  these  reports, 
the  people  of  Bradford  will  be  confirmed  in  their  opinion,  that 
technical  instruction  not  based  upon  a  system  of  sound  elementary 
and  secondary  education  would  not  meet  the  wants  of  the  country  ; 
and  that  government  action  in  this  matter  ought  to  embrace  the 
whole  system  of  education,  and  not  a  part  only. 

In  no  other  country  has  practical  technical  education  been  more 
perfect  than  in  England;  and  the  great  number  of  most  valuable 
inventions  and  improvements  which  have  been  made  by  uneducated 
workmen  prove  that  this  practical  education  has  had  excellent  results. 

I  may  also  state  that  I  am  convinced  that  no  school  can  ever  give 
the  same  practical  education  as  that  which  is  given  in  the  real  work- 
shop ;  but  it  is  evident  that  in  places  like  Bradford,  where  this 
branch  of  education  is  so  thoroughly  satisfactory,  teaching  of  a  more 
scientific  character  would  be  doubly  beneficial. 

To  impart  this  necessary  theoretical  instruction,  technical  schools 
of  different  grades  will  be  required  ;  and  as  your  lordship  has  asked 
the  question,  What  kind  of  technical  education  we  have  to  propose  ? 
I  may  be  permitted  to  conclude  with  a  few  practical  suggestions. 

A  polytechnic  university  like  the  Polytechnic  School  of  Zurich, 
or  the  Central  School  at  Paris,  of  which  Mr.  Samuelson  gives  so 
favorable  an  account,  might  be  established  in  London,  if  a  more 
central  place  in  the  kingdom  be  not  preferred. 

Three  or  four  intermediate  science  and  art  colleges  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  like  the  Ecoles  des  Arts  and  Metiers  in  France, 
might  prepare  the  young  men  from  fourteen  to  eighteen  years  of 
age  for  the  central  university,  or  complete  the  education  of  those 


64  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

who  do  not  intend  to  take  degrees,  or  cannot  aspire  to  the  highest 
places  in  industrial  professions. 

Local  institutions,  such  as  weaving-schools,  upon  the  Elbcrfeld 
model,  with  schools  of  art,  lessons  in  chemistry,  mechanics,  and 
higher  mathematics,  might  be  spread  over  the  whole  country,  each 
adapted  to  the  industry  of  the  district,  and  all  connected  with  and 
aided  by  the  superior  schools  and  central  university. 

Evening  classes  might  greatly  assist  the  youths  who  have  not  yet 
obtained  the  benefit  of  those  improvements  in  primary  and  secondary 
education,  which,  we  trust,  may  not  only  give  us  more  intelligent 
workmen  and  overlookers,  but  will  afford  to  the  rising  generation 
in  general  that  education  which  has  so  greatly  assisted  Germans 
and  Swiss  to  become  such  dangerous  competitors  in  the  world's 

trade. 

I  have,  &c., 

(Signed)  JACOB  BEHRENS. 

To  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lord  Robert  Montagu,  M.P.,  Vice-Preeident 
of  the  Committee  of  Council  for  Education,  &c. 

DECLINE    OF    SILK    MANUFACTURE    IN   ENGLAND. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Francis  Beunoch  to 
Mr.  J.  Hole  shows  that  a  lack  of  suitable  technical  edu- 
cation had  much  to  do  with  the  decline  of  silk  manufac- 
ture in  England. 

80  WOOD  STREET,  E.G.,  Jan.  23,  1868. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  In  reply  to  your  letter  and  circular,  received  a  few 
weeks  ago,  desiring  me  to  note  down  any  facts  connected  with  the 
decline  of  the  silk-trade  in  England,  I  feel  obliged  to  embrace  a 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          65 

wider  range  of  view  than  the  question  at  first  sight  might  appear 
to  render  necessary. 

Primarily,  permit  me  to  observe,  that,  although  the  French  treaty 
may  have  hastened  what  has  been  almost  a  catastrophe  in  the  silk 
manufacture,  it  had  very  little,  if  any  thing,  to  do  with  the  abso- 
lute decay.  The  skilled  English  operative  is,  in  my  opinion,  quite 
as  clever  as  the  foreigner.  The  ignorance  or  incompetence  exists 
where  few  suspect,  —  not  in  the  worker  or  weaver,  but  in  the  master 
or  employer.  Protection  fostered  and  pampered  the  trade,  rendering 
a  moderate  profit  possible  and  easy.  But,  when  the  competition  be- 
came closer,  ignorance  succumbed  to  skill;  for,  unhappily,  protec- 
tion enabled  many  men  to  live  by  manufactures  who  knew  little  or 
nothing  of  manufacturing.  I  shall  briefly  notice  the  various  stages ; 
and,  with  the  exception  of  the  skilled  weaver,  I  fear  I  shall  have  to 
condemn,  or  at  all  events  criticise  severely,  and  give  little  credit  to, 
the  trained  ability  manifested  by  those  who  profess  to  conduct  the 
silk  business. 

RAW  MATERIAL.  —  At  the  very  outset,  the  English  manufacturer 
is  placed  at  a'great  disadvantage.  No  silk  is  produced  at  ho:ne  :  all 
must  be  imported.  He  re-lies,  to  a  large  extent,  on  China,  Japan, 
and  India,  for  his  supply.  The  markets  of  France  and  Italy  are 
opened  to  him ;  but  there  he  is  forestalled  by  the  enterprising  manu- 
facturer of  France,  Switzerland,  and  Germany. 

The  English  manufacturer  chiefly  depends  for  his  supply  upon 
the  silk  brought  to  London.  The  French,  Swiss,  and  German 
manufacturers  contract  with  the  agents  at  Milan,  or  elsewhere,  for  a 
supply  of  the  exact  article  required.  Excellency  of  manufacture 
depends  greatly  on  the  evenness  of  the  thread.  In  this  respect  the 
French  and  Italian  silks  are  admirable.  To  secure  this  the  greatest 
care  is  indispensable  at  the  very  first  operation,  —  that  of  reeling 
6* 


66  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

from  the  cocoon.  In  all  Asiatic  silks,  not  only  is  this  important 
process  most  negligently  executed,  but,  when  completed,  the  pro- 
ducer not  only  takes  no  heed  as  to  keeping  the  several  sizes  apart, 
but  brings  to  bear  the  utmost  ingenuity  to  put  together  into  the 
same  hank  several  sizes,  by  reeling,  first  the  coarsest,  then  a  finer, 
and  a  finer  still,  until  the  coarse  is  completely  enveloped  in,  or  plated 
over,  by  a  quality  infinitely  superior :  so  that  the  silk  in  this  way 
may  appear  ten  or  twenty  per  cent  better  than  it  really  is. 

To  separate  and  re-divide  such  hanks,  and  arrange  them  in  exact 
sizes,  is  next  to  impossible.  The  remedy  for  this  must  be  applied  at 
the  fountain-head.  But  who  is  to  do  it  ?  The  importer  of  silk 
is  not,  or  very  seldom  is,  interested  in  silk  manufactures:  so  long  as 
he  can  obtain  silk  in  exchange  for  his  calicoes,  shipped  to  the  East 
upon  terms  that  leave  him  a  profit,  he  cares  little  how  it  is  produced, 
or  what  becomes  of  it.  With  careful  reeling,  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  excellent  fibre  of  the  Chinese  silk  should  not  rank  with  the  best 
Italian. 

What  has  been  done  once  may  be  repeated  with  advantage.  I 
remember  the  time  when  Brutia  silk  ranked  very  low  in  this  mar- 
ket, lower  than  our  ordinary  China :  but  some  enterprising  men, 
accurately  estimating  the  value  of  the  fibre,  arranged  to  have  it 
reeled  on  the  Italian  or  French  system  ;  and  the  result  was,  that  a 
silk  once  lightly  esteemed  now  ranks  with  the  best  French  or  Ital- 
ian silks,  and  for  lace  purposes  is  preferred  to  any  other.  Taking 
a  money  criterion,  a  silk  which  stood  so  low,  if  reeled  as  formerly, 
would  not  now,  in  this  market,  be  worth  more  than  twenty-one  to 
twenty-four  shillings,  is  at  present  worth  forty-four  to  forty-eight 
shillings  per  pound. 

This  very  year  supplies  a  further  argument  in  favor  of  the  ad- 
vantage of  careful  reeling.  There  have  been  great  variations  in  the 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          67 

quantity  imported ;  but  it  is  found  to  be  so  irregular  and  badly 
reeled  that  it  cannot  be  used  with  advantage  in  the  fabrics  most  in 
demand.  The  consequence  is,  that,  whereas  French  and  Italian 
silks  are  even  higher  in  price  than  they  were  a  year  ago,  Asiatic 
silks  are  lower  by  twenty  to  twenty-five  per  cent.  Here,  one  would 
think,  is  inducement  enough  for  enterprising  men  to  imitate  a  wiser 
system.  But  again  I  ask,  Who  is  to  do  it  ?  No  substantial  im- 
provement in  this  respect  can  take  place  until  the  importer  or  mer- 
chant, and  manufacturer  or  consumer,  come  closer  together,  and 
work  with  or  for  each  other.  At  present  they  are  kept  apart,  and 
arc  ignorant  of  each  other,  by  a  system  that  damages  both.  Did 
the  manufacturer  come  in  contact  with  the  merchant,  and  fully  dis- 
cuss his  requirements,  the  merchant  would,  for  his  own  advantage, 
duly  advise  his  agent  in  China  or  Japan,  who  would  instruct  tho 
native  producer;  and  so,  in  a  short  time,  the  evil  pointed  out  might 
be  partially  amended,  if  not  entirely  overcome. 

THROWING.  —  The  throwster,  again,  is  a  middle-man;  occasion- 
ally, but  not  always,  a  manufacturer.  His  business  is  to  take  the 
silk  as  imported,  split  up  the  skeins  into  their  appropriate  sizes, 
wind,  twist,  and  prepare  the  silk  for  the  manufacturer.  This  is 
the  second  and  most  important  process;  and  carelessness  on  his 
part,  or  want  of  skill  in  separating  and  arranging  the  sizes,  must 
be  shown  in  the  manufactured  goods. 

His  work  is  delicate  and  difficult,  and,  I  must  admit,  conducted 
with  little  notion  as  to  his  responsibility. 

The  general  custom  is,  that,  for  a  certain  price  per  pound-weight, 
he  undertakes  to  throw  the  silk  into  organzine,  or  tram,  or  warp 
and  weft,  and  return  the  same  weight.  Thus  if  the  throwster  re- 
ceives a  hundred  pounds  silk,  valued  at  thirty  shillings  per  pound, 
he  throws  it,  and  whatever  it  produces  (say  ninety-five  pounds  of 


68  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

thrown  silk)  with  five  pounds  waste,  which  he  returns  to  the  dealer  at 
33s.  6e7. ;  the  3s.  6d.  being  the  amount  agreed  to  cover  the  charge 
for  throwing,  including  waste.  Here,  you  will  observe,  lies  a  great 
temptation,  which  few  are  able  to  resist. 

In  the  best  silks,  the  natural  gum  forms  from  eighteen  to  twenty- 
four  per  cent :  this  natural  gum  must  be  boiled  out  before  the  silk 
can  be  properly  dyed.  To  secure  himself  a  better  profit,  the  throw- 
ster takes  out  as  little  of  the  foul  or  rough  thread  as  possible, 
though  every  rough  thread  makes  an  imperfection  in  the  web ;  in 
addition  to  which  he  will  increase  the  quantity  of  soap  used  to 
soften  the  gum  and  make  the  silk  more  easy  to  wind,  and,  by  leav- 
ing a  portion  of  this  adhering  to  the  silk,  he  may  lessen  the  dif- 
ference in  the  raw  silk  received  and  the  thrown  silk  returned,  by 
two  or  three  per  cent.  Indeed,  so  skilful  have  some  throwsters  be- 
come in  this  respect,  that  they  can  not  only  return  the  full  weight 
received,  but  have  some  to  spare,  although  five  per  cent  to  ten  per 
cent  must  go  in  waste  during  the  many  processes  through  which 
the  f=i!k  is  put  in  the  course  of  throwing. 

I  have  frequently  known  instances  when  silk  lost  in  boiling  off 
from  thirty  per  cent  to  thirty-five  per  cent  in  gum,  soap,  and  other 
abominations;  though  the  natural  gum  did  not  exceed  twenty  per 
cent  to  twenty-two  per  cent. 

Mark  the  result:  no  really  first-rate  manufacturer  on  the  Conti- 
nent will  look  at  English  thrown  silk  for  high-class  goods.  I  freely 
admit,  that,  among  the  throwsters,  there  are  many  skilled  and  hon- 
orable men ;  but  they  have  little  influence  to  counteract  the  pre- 
vailing feeling,  which  is  not  a  prejudice,  but  a  principle.  Men  do 
not  like  to  pay  thirty  shillings  or  forty  shillings  per  pound  for  soap 
worth  only  sixpence  per  pound. 

All  this  is  destructive  to  our  reputation  as  producers  of  prepared 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL   INSTRUCTION.          69 

material,  and  most  damaging  to  our  home  manufacturers,  who,  to 
a  large  extent,  depend  upon  the  English  throwster  for  their  supply 
of  material.  With  material  so  prepared,  what  reasonable  being 
could  expect  excellency  of  result  ? 

DYEING. — We  have  some  very  good  practical  dyers,  but  few 
who  have  been  scientifically  trained  in  chemistry.  The  consequence 
is,  that,  even  in  black,  large  quantities  of  silk  are  sent,  at  very  heavy 
expense,  every  year  to  the  Continent  to  be  dyed,  returned  to  Spital- 
fields,  Coventry,  Derby,  Manchester,  &c.,  to  be  woven,  —  a  fact 
most  discreditable  to  the  dyers  of  England,  and  a  great  disadvan- 
tage to  the  manufacturer. 

MANUFACTURING.  —  Here  I  take  up  the  observations  made  at 
the  outset,  —  very  few  of  our  manufacturers  have  any  true  technical 
training.  To  a  great  extent,  they  depend  upon  help  supplied  in  the 
shape  of  a  foreman,  who  has  probably  been  a  weaver,  and  knows 
something  of  putting  silk  together,  but  very  little  of  the  nature  or 
inherent  quality  of  silk,  yet  is  made  responsible  for  selecting  a  silk 
which  he  thinks  may  answer  in  producing  a  class  of  goods  which  his 
master  has  decided  to  make.  A  certain  kind  of  silk  has  produced 
certain  results  before;  and  they  think  it  probable  that  the  silk 
offered  them  by  the  dealer  may  do  the  same  again.  And  (in  Cov- 
entry, for  instance)  it  is  frequently  handed  in  bulk,  so  much  organ, 
so  much  tram,  with  instructions  to  make  the  material  into  such 
and  such  goods  ;  and  they  sec  no  more  of  it  until  it  is  returned  in 
the  manufactured  state.  How  can  that  be  called  manufacturing  ? 
The  uncertainty  as  to  the  size  of  the  material  they  use,  and  the 
ultimate  result,  renders  it  almost  impossible  for  the  professed 
manufacturer  to  estimate  what  the  cost  is  of  any  given  article 
until  it  is  produced;  whereas  the  foreign  manufacturer,  by  the  abso- 
lute knowledge  of  every  department  of  his  business,  the  reliance  he 


70  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

can  place  on  his  material,  and  his  skill  in  design,  is  enabled,  after 
a  careful  examination  of  almost  any  pattern  that  can  be  laid  before 
him,  to  give  an  estimate  of  cost  within  one  or  two  per  cent. 

Instead  of  continuing  the  unpleasant  task  of  showing  what  the 
English  manufacturer  cannot  do,  I  shall  endeavor  to  depict  or  de- 
scribe the  training  necessary  to  make  an  accomplished  manufac- 
turer; and,  in  doing  so,  I  shall  not  draw  on  my  imagination,  but 
keep  steadily  in  view  examples  of  men  who  have  pursued  a  similar 
course  of  training.  One  of  the  great  obstacles  to  success  in  silk 
manufactures  in  England  is  pride,  as  if  being  a  manufacturer  was 
an  absolute  degradation.  It  is  not  so  on  the  Continent. 

When  the  usual  course  of  education  is  finished,  and  the  young 
man  has  to  determine,  or  his  friends  have  to  determine  for  him, 
what  his  future  career  is  to  be,  his  studies  are  regulated  accordingly. 
If  a  manufacturer,  he  attends  classes  and  lectures  on  natural 
science,  with  special  reference  to  the  branch  of  manufacture  he 
intends  to  prosecute,  —  whether  wool,  linen,  cotton,  or  silk,  and  does 
not  waste  his  time  on  much  discursive  study.  He  studies  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  silk,  ascertains  their  nature,  what  classes  of  goods  they 
are  beneficially  adapted  for,  and  what  they  are  not :  so  that,  when  he 
comes  to  practical  working,  he  knows  to  a  certainty  what  to  reject, 
and  what  to  select  for  his  purpose.  Along  with  this  he  prosecutes 
the  study  of  chemistry,  and,  by  experiments,  learns  what  class  of 
silk  is  best  adapted  for  certain  colors,  and  what  is  not.  Equipped 
with  this  indispensable  fundamental  knowledge,  he  proceeds  to 
Italy,  or  elsewhere,  and  practically  engages  in  reeling  from  the 
cocoon  :  by  and  by  he  enters  a  throwing  establishment,  and  be- 
comes acquainted  with  every  detail.  In  future  life  he  can  not  only 
describe  what  he  requires,  but  how  it  may  be  accomplished ;  for 
the  ultimate  result  depends  much  more  on  the  character  and  ex- 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  71 

actness  of  the  several  processes  than  many  would  suppose.  Armed 
with  this  knowledge,  he  returns,  and  studies  the  art  of  design,  and 
how  best  to  produce  a  desired  effect  without  the  waste  of  a  thread  of 
material,  and  probably,  for  a  year  or  so,  practically  studies  weaving, 
and  becomes  a  weaver  at  the  loom.  He  is  thus  able  personally  not 
only  to  superintend,  but  practically  carry  out,  every  scheme  his 
imagination  can  suggest. 

With  judgment  so  matured,  and  knowledge  so  complete,  it  re- 
quires no  depth  of  reasoning  to  decide  how  easy  would  be  the 
victory  of  such  a  man  over  the  untrained  manufacturers  of  Eng- 
land. 

I  will  only  describe  one  process  to  show  the  difference  between 
the  practice  in  Basle  and  Coventry.  In  Basle,  when  the  warp  is 
completed,  it  is  arranged  ready  for  the  loom,  stretched  over  and 
between  two  beams,  and  carefully  examined.  Every  nib,  knot,  and 
rough  part  is  removed  from  the  threads,  so  that,  when  in  the  loom, 
the  weaver  drives  along  merrily.  The  shuttle  seldom,  if  ever,  ceases 
through  imperfection  in  the  warp.  Whilst  in  Coventry,  the  silk  is 
warped  and  put  into  the  loom  as  it  comes  from  the  dyer;  and,  while 
the  weaver  is  picking  and  cleaning  his  warp  before  it  comes  to  the 
baton,  he  not  unfrequently  has  one  or  two  pickers  or  cleaners  be- 
hind the  loom,  removing  the  rough  part  from  the  threads,  with 
many  stoppages  and  delays  in  the  process  of  weaving.  Any  one 
may  see  that  the  one  is  clumsy  and  primitive,  whilst  the  other  is 
characterized  by  common  sense,  skill,  and  considerable  economy. 

No  man  can  pretend  to  show  that  the  weavers  of  Lyons,  St.' 
Etienne,  Zurich,  Basle,  or  Crefeld,  are  superior  to  those  of  Spital- 
fields,  Coventry,  Norwich,  Manchester,  and  Macclesfield  ;  but  any 
one  who  would  venture  to  maintain  an  equality  of  skill,  practical 
and  mechanical  knowledge,  on  the  part  of  our  manufacturers,  would 


72  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

only  expose  his  ignorance  of  the  facts  so  easily  acquired  by  all  who 
wish  to  obtain  them. 

In  many  respects  the  Swiss  have  carried  their  technical  knowl- 
edge a  step  beyond  the  French.  What  but  the  personal  skill  of 
the  manufacturer  could  have  enabled  Zurich,  in  many  classes  of 
goods,  to  successfully  compete  with  Lyons,  or  Basle  to  rival  St. 
Etienne  ?  These  are  facts  which  cannot  be  gainsaid ;  and  we  can- 
not but  lament  the  supineness,  or  want  of  pluck,  in  our  manufac- 
turers, who  lazily  permit  a  most  beautiful  branch  of  industry  to  be 
taken  from  us. 

Those  who  call  for  protection  seek  to  protect,  not  trade,  but 
ignorance  and  idleness. 

Take  one  instance.  Immense  quantities  of  spun  silk  are  pro- 
duced in  England,  sent  to  the  Continent,  made  into  ribbon-velvets, 
and  returned  to  England  in  quantities  almost  beyond  belief.  The 
mere  expense  of  carriage  and  expenses  of  various  kinds  cannot  be 
estimated  at  less  than  ten  per  cent.  Here  is  protection  enough  to 
stimulate  enterprise ;  and  yet,  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
pounds'  value  of  velvets  imported  annually,  scarcely  a  piece  is  made 
in  England.  What  is  the  reason  ?  Nothing  but  the  want  of  well- 
trained,  practical  scientific  mechanical  skill.  If  the  French  Treaty 
had  been  the  cause  of  distress  in  Coventry,  St.  Etienne  would  neces- 
sarily be  in  a  state  of  high  prosperity;  but  it  is  not  so.  St.  Etienne 
is  as  badly  off  as  Coventry,  so  far  as  ribbons  are  concerned.  Basle, 
by  superior  technical  skill  and  great  economy,  has  beaten  St.  Eti- 
enne, as  well  as  Coventry ;  and,  while  these  ancient  cities  are  in  a 
state  of  collapse,  Basle  seems  to  enjoy  a  high  tide  of  successful  in- 
dustry. 

As  regards  Coventry,  fashion  has  much  to  do  with  its  great  de- 
pression. While  women  wear  doyleys,  or  small  mats,  on  their  heads, 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  78 

the  ribbon  trade  must  languish.  But  that  has  little  to  do  with  the 
general  question  ;  and  you  may  gather  from  what  I  have  stated,  that 
we  have,  in  my  judgment,  small  hopes  of  recovering  our  prestige  in 
any  branch  of  silk  manufacture,  until  importers,  throwsters,  dyers, 
and  manufacturers  will  each  and  all  earnestly  resolve  to  acquire  all 
technical  knowledge  connected  with  the  trade,  and,  working  together, 
determine  to  apply  it. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  close  these  hurried  notes  without  stating 
most  emphatically,  that  combinations  among  the  men,  and  the  de- 
termination of  a  small  set  of  workmen  to  establish  trade-lists,  or 
prices,  was  the  beginning  of  the  decay  of  our  silk  manufactures.  I 
have  personally  had  instances  where  many  thousands  of  pounds' 
value  of  goods  were  ordered  on  the  Continent  because  of  some  small, 
wretched,  technical  objection  on  the  part  of  the  weaver,  or  of  his 
tyrant,  the  Trade  Union,  because  it  seemed  to  interfere  with  a  trade- 
list  in  Coventry.  My  memory  supplies  me  with  one  case  where 
an  order  was  declined,  although  the  weaver  could  have  made  over 
forty  shillings  a  week  wages,  had  the  price  offered  been  accepted  ; 
the  result  being,  that,  in  one  season,  more  than  twenty  thousand 
pounds'  worth  of  goods  was  ordered  on  the  Continent  which  might 
have  been  produced  in  England. 

Perfect  freedom  to  employ  or  dispose  of  labor  is  an  indispensable 
element  for  the  future  success  of  the  silk-trade  in  England. 

I  am,  &c., 

FRANCIS  BEUNOCH. 

FRENCH   TESTIMONY. 

By  imperial  decree,  June  22,  1863;  a  large  and  able 
commission  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  character 


74  .         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

of  technical  instruction  throughout  France.  Some 
thirty  different  persons,  whose  evidence  it  was  thought 
would  be  most  valuable,  —  professors,  heads  of  colleges, 
and  manufacturers, —  were  summoned  before  the  commis- 
sion. The  abstract  of  evidence  taken  by  the  commission, 
and  the  report  it  made  June  20,  1865  (Gen.  A.  Morin, 
reporter),  were  deemed  so  valuable  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment, that  a  translation  of  the  same  was  made  and 
presented  to  both  houses  of  parliament  by  command 
of  her  Majesty.  Extracts  will  be  given  in  different 
parts  of  this  volume. 

In  his  evidence,  M.  Girardon,  founder  and  director  of 
the  Central  School  at  Lyons,  professor  at  La  Martiniere 
School,  a  free  technical  school,  says :  — 

"The  majority  of  the  pupils  of  La  Martiniere  succeed  in  the 
careers  in  life  which  they  select.  There  are  in  the  town  of  Lyons 
a  large  number  of  skilled  artisans  who  have  sat  on  the  benches  of 
the  school.  The  principal  dyers  are  old  pupils  of  the  school ;  and  to 
them  is  due  the  increased  prosperity  of  the  trade  of  the  town  by  the 
remarkable  discovery  of  the  new  and  fashionable  colors.  The 
Polytechnic  School  has  also  received  many  of  the  pupils  ;  and  it  is  to 
their  first  success  in  La  Martiniere  that  they  owe  the  brilliant 
position  they  have  obtained, —  a  just  recompense  of  their  assiduity." 

The  evidence  of  M.  Houel,  manager  of  the  Derosne 
establishment  of  Gail  and  Company,  contains  some  things 
not  directly  pertinent  to  this  chapter;  but,  as  the  directly 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  75 

pertinent   parts  cannot  be  readily  separated   from   the 
rest,  the  whole  is  given.     M.  Houel  says :  — 

"  I  shall  commence  with  the  question  of  the  instruction  of  ap- 
prentices. I  believe  that  in  the  principal  centres  of  industry,  as 
Lille  or  Mulhouse,  more  favorable  conditions  could  be  created  than 
at  Paris.  Thus  at  Fives,  at  the  establishment  of  Parent,  Schaken, 
Caillct,  and  Company,  of  which  I  am  the  fourth  partner,  we  have 
begun  to  give  special  instruction  to  our  apprentices  ;  and,  doing  this 
in  the  interest  of  the  children  and  in  that  of  the  parents,  we  believe 
that  it  is  also  in  the  interest  of  our  establishment. 

"In  fact,  the  provincial  workshops  are  under  quite  different  con- 
ditions from  those  in  the  capital.  At  Paris,  as  many  workmen  as 
arc  wanted  can  be  found :  in  the  provinces,  on  the  contrary,  it  is 
often  difficult.  We  are  compelled  to  create  a  staff  of  employes  and 
operatives,  who,  we  wish,  may  become  attached  to  our  establishment : 
we  must  attract  both  children  an  1  parents  by  making  it  easy  for 
them  to  find  dwelling-places  and  schools  close  to  their  work.  This 
is  what  we  wish  to  effect,  and  in  which  we  have  already  succeeded  in 
many  centres. 

"  Our  establishment,  founded  now  about  three  years,  employs 
fifteen  hundred  to  eighteen  hundred  men  :  we  have  sixty  apprentices  ; 
and  we  are  thinking  of  raising  the  number  to  three  hundred  or 
four  hundred.  Our  apprentices  have  one  hour  of  intellectual  labor ; 
but  we  believe,  that,  to  learn  properly,  they  should  have  four  or 
five  hours  daily.  We  would  willingly  allow  it  to  them ;  and  we 
should  probably  arrive  at  an  instruction  which  would  qualify 
some  of  them  to  become  candidates  for  the  schools  of  arts  and 
trades,  and  that  under  conditions  very  favorable  to  their  prac- 
tical knowledge. 


76  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"  It  has  sometimes  been  spoken  of  to  make  workmen  study  at 
night :  I  believe  tbat  to  be  almost  impossible.  A  man  that  has  been 
at  work  all  day  cannot  study,  unless,  indeed,  be  has  an  exceptional 
constitution.  A  man  who  has  the  care  of  a  family,  who  works  at 
piece-work,  and  gives  all  his  energy  to  it,  has  need  of  the  evening 
for  rest.  According  to  my  idea,  the  working-man  cannot  gain  much 
by  studying  at  night :  he  may  go  to  his  class  one  evening,  but  he 
will  not  go  again.  It  is  the  apprentice  with  whom  we  should  occupy 
ourselves,  because  he  is  of  an  age  to  divide  his  time  between  manual 
and  intellectual  labor. 

"Now-a-days  it  is  necessary  to  have  educated  workmen.  France 
sends  as  many  artisans  abroad  as  England.  When  we  have  a  work- 
man to  send  to  Italy  or  Spain,  we  inquire  what  he  knows,  and  we 
find,  that,  in  general,  he  is  a  thoroughly  practical  man,  who  knows 
his  work  perfectly ;  but  if  we  ask  him  to  make  a  calculation,  or  to 
keep  an  account  of  petty  cash,  we  directly  discover  his  incapacity. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  we  take  a  pupil  from  the  schools,  we  find  him 
less  practical  than  the  working-man,  less  able,  on  the  whole,  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  situation.  In  fact,  we  are  compelled  to  send, 
in  preference,  a  man  who  is  not  educated,  but  who  knows  how  to 
work.  What  is  wanting,  then,  is  a  man  capable  of  working,  yet  in- 
structed ;  and  it  is  therefore  of  the  greatest  importance  to  trade  to 
promote  the  instruction  of  apprentices  by  attaching  a  school  to  the 
workshop,  as  we  have  done  at  Fives. 

"  I  confess  I  have  here  given  utterance  to  an  idea  which  deserves 
to  be  considered  practically.  It  would  be  well  to  examine  in  detail 
what  are  the  cases  where  a  child,  giving  six  hours  of  work  a  Jay  to 
his  master,  can  be  replaced  by  another  child  while  the  first  one  goes 
to  school.  There  are  circumstances  under  which  there  would  be 
some  difficulty  in  making  apprentices  thus  alternately  go  to  work ; 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  77 

but  I  think,  that,  in  most  cases,  it  would  be  possible.  Thus,  in  a  work- 
shop like  ours,  I  do  not  see  why  we  could  not  employ  two  hundred 
apprentices,  as  well  as  thirty  or  forty  :  in  fact,  the  majority  merely 
work  as  assistants  to  the  workmen,  and  could  easily  be  replaced  in 
this  work  by  others.  It  is  only  when  a  child  has  himself  commenced 
a  piece  of  work,  that  it  cannot  be  finished  by  another.  But  I  think 
that  this  difficulty  can  be  overcome  by  having  twice  as  many  chil- 
dren as  are  wanted  for  their  work,  and  by  giving  each  of  them  only 
half  of  what  he  can  do  in  twelve  hours. 

"  I  think,  then,  that  it  would  be  an  excellent  plan  to  organize  in 
one  large  industrial  establishment  an  intellectual  training  sufficiently 
advanced  to  allow  of  practical  and  scientific  acquirements  being 
placed  on  the  same  footing,  and  to  enable  parents  who  are  sufficiently 
enlightened  to  send  their  children  to  the  schools  of  arts  and 
trades.  For  my  own  part,  I  know  of  no  better  instruction  to  make 
able  workmen  than  that  which  is  given  at  those  schools,  because 
there  the  studies  run  parallel  to  one  another.  We  are  indebted 
to  them  for  the  fact,  that,  in  mechanical  construction,  we  are  the 
equals  of  any  other  nation  in  Europe.  We  ourselves  employ  a 
great  number  of  the  pupils  of  these  schools.  Of  the  three  hundred 
who  pass  out  of  them  every  year,  there  are  some  who  are  more  or 
less  not  so  well  prepared ;  there  are  some  of  whom  we  can  make 
nothing  but  workmen,  sometimes  even  only  moderately  good  work- 
men :  but  there  are  others  who  are  very  intelligent,  and  have  prof- 
ited to  the  utmost  by  the  intellectual  and  scientific  training  they 
have  received.  Such  as  have  not  been  able  to  learn  mathematics, 
but  possess  practical  capabilities,  become  excellent  foremen.  We 
meet  with  men  among  them  who  have  a  great  liking  for  practical 
acquirements,  because  in  general  they  are  good  draughtsmen.  A 
young  man  who  can  work  well,  and  is  skilful  with  his  hands,  is  also 
7* 


78  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

a  good  draughtsman ;  and  that  is  one  of  the  first  qualifications  of  a 
good  foreman. 

"We  are  all  the  more  in  a  position  to  feel  the  want  of  workmen 
who  have  a  knowledge  of  drawing,  in  that  our  method  of  manufac- 
ture (which  we  owe  to  the  schools  of  arts  and  trades)  is  quite  different 
from  that  adopted  in  England,  and  from  that  which,  for  a  long  time, 
was  in  use  in  France.  I  am  the  manager  of  two  works,  —  those  of 
Messrs.  Gail  and  Company,  and  those  of  Messrs.  Parent,  Schaki-n, 
Caillet,  and  Company,  which  employ  together  about  five  thousand 
hands.  That  number  might  be  easily  increased  to  fifty  thousand,  if 
we  had  a  sufficiency  of  draughtsmen.  Our  method  consists  in 
giving  full  details  of  every  work,  piece  by  piece :  so  that  the  work- 
man has  only  to  execute  the  piece  according  to  the  drawings  which 
are  confided  to  him.  With  a  large  staff  of  draughtsmen  we  pro- 
duce works  at  these  establishments  to  the  amount  of  over  thirty 
millions  of  francs,  which  would  be  an  impossibility  without  our 
means  and  process  of  maufacture. 

"  It  must  be  acknowledged,  that,  in  large  workshops,  apprentices 
arc  not  in  such  favorable  circumstances  tor  learning  their  trades  as 
in  smaller  ones.  Establishments  with  large  capital  undertake  con- 
siderable contracts,  and  are  therefore  compelled  to  make  many 
things  of  the  same  description.  In  a  small  workshop,  on  the  con- 
trary, where  they  execute  a  variety  of  works,  the  same  objects  are 
not  turned  out  in  so  large  a  number.  We  manufacture  in  our  three 
establishments  a  hundred  and  fifty  locomotives;  and  we  could 
make  two  hundred :  there  are  therefore  many  parts  which  are  re- 
peated. If  a  young  man  executes  well  a  piece  of  work  which  is 
intrusted  to  him,  it  may  happen  that  he  has  given  to  him  the  same 
work  for  a  year  or  more ;  and  he  will  be  able  to  make  a  profit  by  it. 
In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  it  is  at  once  the  interest  of  his  em- 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  79 

ployers,  of  his  parents,  and  of  himself,  that  he  should  continue  for 
some  time  manufacturing  the  same  thing. 

"  In  the  schools  of  arts  and  trades,  this  method  is  not  adopted. 
There  the  pupils  are  made  to  execute  works  which  are  gradually 
made  more  and  more  difficult,  so  that  their  acquirements  may  in- 
crease gradually.  But  this  mode  of  instruction  has  also  its  incon- 
veniences ;  for  the  result  is,  that  the  pupils  cannot  produce  their 
work  rapidly.  They  ought  to  execute  in  these  schools  a  greater 
quantity  of  work,  and  to  have  among  the  pupils  a  number  of  skilled 
mechanics  to  show  them  how  to  turn  out  their  work  quickly.  We 
take  every  year  fifteen  pupils  from  the  school  at  Chalons  ;  and,  as 
they  arc  much  sought  after,  we  do  our  best  to  obtain  the  best.  For 
two  years  they  arc  employed  in  our  workshops,  and  are  then  sent 
into  the  drawing-office  :  at  the  end  of  four  or  five  years,  they  are  of 
great  service  to  us.  But  it  is  evident,  that,  if  they  were  more  con- 
versant with  manual  labor  when  they  leave  school,  they  would  not 
have  to  pass  two  years  in  the  workshop  :  they  could  be  spared  that 
probation,  and  would  be  sooner  in  a  position  to  occupy  higher 
posts.  "Works  of  greater  importance  ought  to  be  executed  in  the 
schools;  and  if,  by  the  side  of  the  pupils,  there  were  a  few  picked 
workmen  who  knesv  how  to  turn  out  work  well,  they  would  serve 
as  an  example  to  the  young  men  of  the  school ;  and  those  who  pos- 
sessed industry  and  ability  would  endeavor  to  emulate  them  in 
rapidity  of  execution  and  skill." 

A  sub-commission  investigated  and  reported  on  tech- 
nical education  in  Germany  and  Switzerland.  Of  the 
prosperity  of  Nuremberg  this  sub-commission  says  :  — 

"  There  exist  in  Germany  certain  institutions,  all  having  for  their 


80  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

object,  though  differing  in  form,  the  professional  training  (properly 
so  called)  of  workmen.  Foremost  among  the  things  taught  in  these 
schools,  or  classes,  which  are  held  on  Sundays  or  evenings,  always 
stands  freehand  and  linear  drawing.  In  some  countries,  as  in  Wur- 
tcmbcrg  and  Bavaria  (Nuremberg),  drawing  is  the  especial  object 
of  these  schools  ;  and  the  impulse  it  has  given  to  all  the  industries 
requiring  that  art  are  sufficiently  striking,  and  so  generally  recog- 
nized as  to  render  evident  the  usefulness  and  necessity  of  this  branch 
of  instruction. 

"  A  glance  at  the  immense  variety  of  children's  toys  with  which 
Nuremberg  supplies  the  whole  world  will  suffice  to  show  the  pro- 
gress due  to  this  diffusion  of  the  art  of  drawing.  The  very  small- 
est figures,  whether  men  or  animals,  are  all  produced  with  almost 
artistic  forms ;  and  yet  all  these  articles  are  made  in  the  cottages  of 
the  mountainous  districts  of  the  country.  They  find  employment 
for  the  whole  population,  from  children  of  tender  age,  as  soon  as 
they  can  handle  a  knife,  to  their  parents  ;  and  this  home  manufacture, 
which  docs  not  interfere  with  field-work,  contributes  greatly  to  the 
prosperity  of  a  country  naturally  poor  and  sterile." 

The  same  sub-commission,  in  giving  an  historical  ac- 
count of  the  schools  of  arts  and  trades  in  France,  tells 
the  following  anecdote  of  the  first  Napoleon,  which  in- 
dicates the  value  lie  placed  upon  technical  education  :  — 

"  One  day  the  emperor,  while  still  first  consul,  paid  a  visit  to 
the  college  at  Compiegne,  and  questioned  some  of  the  elder  pupils  as 
to  what  they  intended  to  do  on  leaving  the  college.  lie  was  much 
dissatisfied  with  their  answers.  '  The  government/  said  he,  '  pays 
considerable  sums  to  educate  these  young  men ;  and,  when  their 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  81 

studies  are  ended,  none  of  them,  except  those  who  enter  the  army, 
are  of  any  use  to  the  country.  Nearly  all  of  them  remain  at  home, 
a  burden  to  their  families,  which  they  ought  to  aid.  This  shall 
continue  no  longer.  I  have  just  visited  the  great  manufacturing 
establishments  in  the  north,  and  the  larger  workshops  of  Paris.  I 
everywhere  found  foremen  clever  in  the  manual  labor  of  their  trades, 
but  scarcely  one  among  them  able  to  draw  the  outlines,  or  make  the 
most  simple  calculations,  of  a  machine  to  convey  his  ideas  by  a 
sketch  or  a  written  description.  This  is  a  great  defect ;  and  I  will 
here  provide  the  means  for  remedying  it.  There  must  be  no  more 
Latin  here  (that  will  be  learned  in  the  lyceums  about  to  be  organ- 
ized), but  the  study  of  trades,  with  so  much  theory  as  is  necessary 
for  their  progress  :  by  this  course  we  shall  obtain  well-taught  fore- 
men for  our  manufactories." 

VIEWS  OF  PROF.  LEONI  LEVI. 

Prof.  Leoni  Levi,  Doctor  of  Economic  Science  of  the 
University  of  Tubingen,  having  investigated  technical, 
industrial,  and  professional  instruction  in  Italy  and 
other  countries,  made  a  report  to  Lord  Montagu,  the 
vice-president  of  the  Committee  of  Council  on  Educa- 
tion in  Great  Britain.  This  Report  was  ordered  by  the 
House  of  Commons  to  be  printed,  Dec.  6,  1867.  After 
describing  the  instruction  in  different  countries,  Prof. 
Levi  says  :  — 

"  This  is  but  a  general  review  of  what  is  being  done  with  a  view 
to  promote  scientific  and  technical  instruction  in  different  countries, 


82  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

yet  it  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  greatest  attention  is  devoted  to 
the  subject ;  that  a  general  desire  is  evinced  to  advance  in  industry, 
not  by  the  empirical  method  of  chance  acquisitions,  but  by  a  pro- 
found study  of  the  great  principles  of  art  and  science  ;  that  experi- 
mental science  is  attracting  an  extensive  number  of  laborers,  intent 
upon  making  fresh  discoveries  and  greater  conquests  over  the  grand 
and  mysterious  powers  of  matter;  and  that  the  exercise  of  the  dif- 
ferent professions  of  life  is  no  longer  left  in  the  hands  of  persons 
untaught  and  undisciplined,  but  is  everywhere  made  to  depend  on 
an  extended  knowledge  of  the  sciences  which  they  demand,  and  of 
the  duties  which  they  impose. 

"  What  is  done  in  this  country  towards  promoting  objects  of 
such  paramount  importance  ?  The  principal  defect  in  popular  edu- 
cation in  this  country,  I  apprehend,  is  a  want  of  elevation  of  mind 
and  of  capacity  of  exercising  force  or  power  of  thought.  There 
appears  to  be  a  want  of  agility  and  adaptability  in  the  mental  pow- 
ers of  our  working-classes,  produced,  probably,  by  the  early  ages 
at  which  they  are  sent  to  work,  the  hardness,  constancy,  and  same- 
ness of  labor,  and  by  the  dull  and  unenlivening  climate.  In  the 
constant  use  of  machinery,  the  laborers  in  the  manufacturing  dis- 
tricts become,  to  a  great  extent,  the  slaves  of  mechanical  force,  and, 
bound  to  follow  the  automaton  by  a  constantly  watchful  eye,  they 
lose  that  vivacity  of  mind  which  is  necessary  to  the  efficient  pursuit 
of  every  branch  of  industry.  Nor  have  the  majority  of  laborers 
much  opportunity  to  acquire  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  work 
they  have  to  do. 

"  The  only  means  generally  provided  for  learning  the  work  is  by 
the  system  of  Apprenticeship;  but,  in  the  hurry  and  turmoil  of  the 
workshop,  no  attention  is  paid  to  the  principles  of  the  work.  By 
constant  practice,  by  great  care,  by  natural  aptitude,  the  laborer 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.  83 

may  acquire  an  unrivalled  excellence  of  workmanship  ;  his  eye  may 
be  so  sharpened,  and  his  touch  so  refined,  as  to  be  able  to  detect  the 
most  infinitesimal  flaw  in  the  work  at  hand  :  but  ask  him  to  alter 
his  course,  or  to  introduce  any  novelty,  and  he  is  utt'erly  incompe- 
tent for  it.  This  is  the  effect  of  apprenticeship  unaided  by  any 
study  of  the  principles  involved  in  the  art.  The  laborer  is,  in  fact, 
reduced  to  the  character  of  a  copying-machine  :  he  may  be  able  to 
transcribe  what  is  set  before  him  with  the  utmost  perfection,  but 
cannot  at  any  time  alter,  invent,  or  even  skilfully  control,  what  is  to 
be  done.  He  is  rather  the  slave  than  the  master  of  the  work  he  has 
on  hand.  What  the  laborer  really  wants  is  a  knowledge  of  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  the  work  is  done.  It  is  not  desirable  to  substitute 
science  for  practice ;  but  it  would  be  most  useful  to  superadd  the 
one  to  the  other.  It  is  not  a  question  of  abolishing  the  system 
of  apprenticeship  for  the  school,  but  to  let  the  school  be  preparatory 
to  or  the  immediate  attendant  of  apprenticeship." 


REPLIES    TO    LOUD    STANLEY. 

In  1867  Lord  Stanley-  addressed  a  circular  to  her 
Majesty's  ministers  abroad,  requesting  them  to  obtain 
and  forward  information  relating  to  technical  or  indus- 
trial education  in  foreign  countries. 

1.  What  is  the  nature  of  any  technical  or  industrial 

education  which  is  carried  on  in  ?  What  are 

the  particular  industries  which  it  is  intended  to  pro- 
mote ?  Are  there  any  distinct  schools  or  colleges,  &c., 
for  the  purpose  ? 


84  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

• 

2.  If  there  be  such  schools  or  colleges,  with  what 
industries  are  they  connected  ? 

3.  For  what  class  of  persons  is  this   technical   in- 
struction adapted?  —  for  masters,  overlookers,  or  work- 
men? 

4.  In  what  way   are   these    institutions   supported? 
and  particularly  do  they  receive  any  contribution  from 
public  funds,  as  endowments,  subsidies  from  local  or  cen- 
tral authorities  ? 

5.  What  is  the  average  number  of  the  students  ? 

6.  What  is  the  cost  to  a  student  ?     Are  there   any 
exhibitions  or  free  places  tenable  at  industrial  schools, 
&c.  ?     Do  private  manufacturers  often    defray  the    ex- 
penses of  students  ? 

7.  Is  there  any  special  qualification  required  for  ad- 
mission  to  the  industrial-  school,  &c.  ?     What  is   the 
time  usually  spent  by  students  at  the  schools,  &c.,  and 
the  ages  and  sex  of  the  students  ? 

8.  What  is  the  amount  of  the  education  presumed,  or 
generally  acquired,  before  admission  to  the  school,  &c.  ? 
What  are  the  subjects  of  instruction  at  the  school,  &c.  ? 
What  is  the  mode  in  which  instruction   is   given  ?     Is 
the  instruction  accompanied  by  participation  in  actual 
manufacturing  works  or  processes  ? 

9.  Are  there  any  special  privileges   attached  to  stu- 
dentship at  the  school,  &c.  ?     Is  any  special  education 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          85 

of  this  kind  made  necessary  for  admission  to  the  exer- 
cise of  any  particular  trade  or  profession  ? 

10.  How  are  the  teachers  appointed  ?     What  qualifi- 
cations are  they  required  to  have?    How  are  these  quali- 
fications ascertained  ?  and  how  obtained  by  those  who 
possess  them  ? 

11.  What  advantage,  if  any,  has  resulted  from  these 
schools,  &c.,  in  promoting  or  extending  the  manufac- 
tures with  which  they  are  connected  ? 

12.  What  is  the  opinion  prevalent  among  the  indus- 
trial classes^  whether  employers  or  employed,  with  re- 
gard to  the  working  and  effect  of  these  schools? 

In  1868  the  replies  were  presented  to  both  houses  of 
parliament  by  her  Majesty's  command.  With  his  re- 
ply relative  to  France,  Lord  Lyons  sent  numerous  docu- 
ments, —  one  a  circular  letter  dated  April  6,  1868,  which 
was  sent  out  by  the  minister  of  public  instruction  in 
France.  It  accompanied  a  plan  of  studies  for  the  spe- 
cial schools.  In  this  letter  the  French  minister  says  of 
Switzerland,  — 

"  Science  continues  its  discoveries,  and  every  day  places  at  the 
disposal  of  industry  new  and  serviceable  agents  ;  but,  in  order  to  be 
well  applied,  these  agents,  which  are  sometimes  very  delicate  and 
sometimes  very  powerful,  require  to  be  skilfully  handled.  This  is 
the  reason  why,  in  the  present  day.  industrial  progress  is  so  intimate- 
ly connected  with  educational  progress,  and  why  questions  which 
8 


86  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

it  is  the  duty  of  the  university  to  examine  and  to  solve  have  ac- 
quired so  great  an  importance  even  as  regards  the  material  prosperi- 
ty of  France. 

"  Should  any  one  doubt  the  importance  of  the  revolution  which 
is  taking  place,  let  him  look  at  Switzerland,  that  country  of  lakes 
and  mountains,  which  Nature  has  made  so  beautiful,  while  at  the 
same  time  denying  it  every  condition  required  to  make  it  the  abode 
of  industry,  — a  country  loved  by  artists  and  by  poets,  but  without 
ports,  without  navigable  rivers,  without  canals,  and  without  mines. 
Yet,  from  among  these  sterile  rocks,  there  is  exported  every  year  an 
amount  of  products  sufficient  to  pay  for  all  the  importations  made, 
and  more  especially  for  the  two  hundred  million  francs'  worth  of 
goods  which  France  alone  sells  to  that  people,  which  in  former 
times  cultivated  mercenary  warfare  as  its  sole  branch  of  industry ; 
and  the  country  produces,  besides,  so  many  skilful  men,  that,  in  every 
commercial  city  of  the  world,  a  Swiss  colony  is  found  holding  the 
first  rank ;  and  in  almost  every  great  commercial  house  may  be 
found  intelligent  clerks  who  have  come  from  Basle,  Zurich,  or 
Neufchatel." 

Mr.  Lowther,  in  his  reply  from  Berlin,  speaks  thus  of 
the  general  effect  of  technical  instruction  in  Prussia :  — 

"  The  advantage  obtained  is,  that  there  has  been  a  very  good  class 
of  workmen  established,  which  thinks,  and  has  a  knowledge  of  the 
things  they  are  required  to  make,  and  consequently  comprehends 
more  easily.  The  class  of  workmen  has  become  also  better  man- 
nered, more  civilized  and  refined.  The  middle  class  of  tradespeople 
has  been  able  to  raise  the  profession  :  it  has  been  able  to  carry  into 
effect  all  repairs  in  factories,  and  to  arrange  and  direct  them  in  such 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          87 

a  way  that  they  are  cared  for  in  the  most  convenient  manner.  It 
has  been  able  to  introduce  new  methods  in  manufactories,  &c.  The 
highest  education  of  German  engineers  has  caused  the  profession  to 
be  very  much  sought  after  on  account  of  its  extensive  and  funda- 
mental knowledge.  By  means  of  all  these  circumstances,  Prussian 
establishments,  like  Prussian  industry,  have  been  able  to  raise  them- 
selves, 

"  The  industrial  classes  have  the  most  favorable  opinion  of  this 
education,  as  proved  by  tho  very  great  use  made  of  all  the  technical 
plar-cs  or  establishments  of  education  of  all  grades,  &c.,  as  proved 
by  the  necessary  enlargement  of  existing,  and  formation  of  new, 
establishments.  The  workmen  feel  the  influence  of  the  knowledge 
they  have  acquired,  and  are  anxious  to  attend  the  lectures  at  tho 
vcrcins  (unions),  which  conduce  to  show  the  woi'kman  the  impor- 
tance of  theory.  From  ten  thousand  to  twelve  thousand  men  attend 
the  lectures  of  the  Ilandwerker  Verein  at  Berlin  alone. 

"  Looking  at  the  result  given  in  answer  to  Question  5,  that 
about  eleven  thousand  men  receive  a  technical  education  annually 
in  various  grades  of  knowledge,  it  will  easily  be  understood  that  the 
effects  of  these  technical  establishments  of  education  are  generally 
recognized." 

Mr.  Doria  sends  with  his  report  from  Stockholm  a 
communication  from  the  Swedish  Government,  which 
says  of  the  technical  schools  in  Sweden :  — 

"  The  facts  that  the  number  of  persons  who  seek  admission  into 
the  schools  is  constantly  increasing,  and  that  manufacturers  and 
others  engaged  in  industrial  pursuits  exert  their  influence  in  every 
diet  to  promote  the  increase  or  extension  of  technical  educational 


88  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

establishments,  are  sufficient  proof  that  the  use  of  euch  schools  is 
evident  to  the  public,  and  duly  appreciated." 

Of  the  good  effect  of  the  many  industrial  and  technical 
schools  in  Belgium,  Lord  Howard  de  Walden  says :  — 

"  The  benefits  which  these  institutions  have  conferred,  and  are 
conferring,  upon  the  working  population  of  Flanders,  as  regards 
their  material  prosperity,  in  resuscitating  a  decayed  industry,  and  in 
opening  a  career  of  renumerative  lal>or  to  all  who  are  willing  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  placed  within  their  reach,  whilst 
teaching  them,  at  the  same  time,  early  habits  of  discipline  and 
order,  arc  incontestable." 

With  his  reply,  Lord  Howard  de  Walden  sent  an 
elaborate  report  on  industrial  education  in  Belgium 
made  by  the  minister  of  the  interior  in  1867.  This  re- 
port gives  an  account  of  a  large  number  of  local  techni- 
cal schools.  Of  the  good  influence  of  the  one  at  Soig- 
neis,  specially  designed  for  workers  in  stone  quarries,  and 
in  which  great  attention  is  paid  to  drawing,  the  minister 
says :  — 

"  The  school  has  a  good  influence  upon  the  working-class,  and 
upon  the  industry  of  the  town  of  Soigncis  and  the  neighborhood. 
It  provides  this  industry  with  efficient  powers  and  skilled  workmen, 
who  work  the  stone  with  taste,  and  execute  the  most  complicated 
work,  and,  above  all,  remarkable  carvings,  which  the  owners  of  the 
quarries  could  hardly  undertake  before,  or  which  they  were  obliged 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          89 

to  have  executed  elsewhere.  On  the  other  hand,  it  provides  the  pu- 
pils with  knowledge  which  enables  them  to  improve  their  condition 
considerably.  It  also  acts  favorably  on  their  morality,  giving  them 
a  taste  for  study,  and  ideas  of  order  and  providence  which  contrib- 
ute to  the  spread  of  well-being  and  competency  in  families." 

TESTIMONY    OF   MR.    SAMUELSON. 

Mr.  Bernhard  Samuelson,  member  of  parliament,  hav- 
ing made  a  tour  of  observation,  wrote  a  letter,  Nov.  16, 
1867,  on  the  industrial  progress,  and  the  education  of 
the  industrial  classes,  in  France,  Switzerland,  Germany, 
&c.  This  letter,  addressed  to  the  vice-president  of  the 
Committee  of  Council  for  Education  in  Great  Britain, 
was  ordered  by  the  House  of  Commons  to  be  printed. 
Of  woollen  manufactures  Mr.  Samuelson  says :  — 

"  In  contrasting  what  I  saw  at  Leeds  and  the  older  seats  of  the 
woollen  manufacture  with  the  worsted  spinning  and  weaving  facto- 
ries at  Bradford,  I  had  no  difficulty  in  comprehending  how  it  happens 
that  Continental  competition  is  being  far  more  seriously  felt  in  the 
former  than  in  the  latter  department  of  the  woollen  trade.  In  the 
woollen  manufacture  proper,  every  thing  has  stiffened  into  tradition 
and  routine.  The  most  enlightened  and  enterprising  manufacturers 
are  discouraged  by  the  passive  resistance  of  their  old-fashioned  over- 
lookers and  other  'leading  hands.'  Even  in  those  cases  where 
improved  machinery  is  introduced,  it  is  not  used  to  the  utmost 
advantage.  One  result  is,  that  the  spinners  and  manufacturers  of 
Belgium  are  exporting  woollen  yarns  and  cloths,  valued  at  nearly 
two  million  pounds,  annually  to  this  country,  produced  from  wools, 
8* 


90  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

a  great  portion  of  which  are  first  imported  from  our  colonies  and 
transatlantic  countries,  into  London,  and  shipped  thence  to  Ant- 
werp. I  was  told  by  the  president  of  the  Leeds  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce that  the  discouragement  arising  from  these  conditions  is  so 
great,  that  the  more  enterprising  young  men  refuse  to  engage  in  tho 
woollen  manufacture,  and  enter  one  or  other  of  the  numerous 
branches  of  industry  which  have  recently  sprung  up  in  Leeds,  and 
to  which  the  maintenance  of  its  prosperity  is  principally  due. 

"  It  is  not  surprising,  under  these  circumstances,  that  the  manu- 
facturers of  Leeds,  through  their  Chamber  of  Commerce,  should 
urge  the  necessity  of  giving  a  more  free  and  scientific  training  to  its 
rising  generation. 

"  At  Bradford  all  is  different.  The  worsted  manufacture,  a  com- 
paratively young  trade,  is  carried  on  with  the  newest  appliances,  in, 
factories  admirably  designed,  by  master  manufacturers  of  unsur- 
passed energy,  and  a  working  population  free  from  the  prejudices 
which,  amongst  ignorant  people,  are  the  unavoidable  accompani- 
ment of  routine." 

Of  the  good  influence  of  art  instruction  on  lace  manu- 
factures Mr.  Samuelson  observes  :  — 

"  To  the  general  depression  of  the  Nottingham  lace-trade  the 
manufacture  of  lace  curtains  forms  an  exception.  To  this  branch, 
the  admirable  local  school  of  art,  the  erection  and  fittings  of  which 
cost  nearly  eight  thousand  pounds,  has  rendered  the  greatest  ser- 
vice. I  saw  some  beautiful  designs  by  pupils  of  the  school,  which 
were  being  executed  in  one  of  the  factories ;  and  I  have  been  in- 
formed that  the  English  patterns  in  this  branch  are  preferred  to 
those  of  France,  not  only  in  England,  but  in  the  markets  of  tlie 
world." 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          91 

The  following,  from  Mr.  Samuelson,  illustrates  how 
rude  labor  may  be  supplanted  by  machinery,  the  pro- 
duct of  skilled  labor:  — 

"  Apart  from  their  general  interest,  the  works  of  the  Isthmus 
of  Suez  Canal  (the  beautiful  drawings  and  models  of  which  at- 
tracted so  much  attention  in  thQ  Champ-de-Mars)  afford  an  in- 
stance, which  I  cannot  omit  to  notice,  of  the  resources  of  French 
mechanical  engineering.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  progress 
of  this  great  undertaking  was  arrested  about  five  years  ago  by  the 
prohibition,  on  the  part  of  the  Porte,  of  forced  labor.  The  contrac- 
tors, finding  themselves  deprived  of  some  eighteen  thousand  work- 
people, at  once  reconsidered  their  plans,  and  proposed  to  substitute 
special  steam-machinery  of  an  entirely  original  character  for  the 
manual  labor  previously  employed  in  excavating  and  embanking 
the  main  and  fresh  water  canals  and  the  entrance  from  the  Medi- 
terranean. Nearly  the  whole  of  that  machinery,  costing  several 
millions  sterling,  was  executed  in  France,  —  about  six  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds'  worth  by  Messieurs  Gouin  and  Company  of  Paris. 
Within  twelve  months  from  the  receipt  of  the  order,  these  gentlemen 
prepared  the  plans  of  the  dredges,  barges,  cranes,  &c.,  and  delivered 
and  erected  at  Port  Said  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  material  to 
commence  the  works ;  and  within  three  years  the  whole  of  this 
enormous  plant  was  completed,  and  in  satisfactory  operation.  Mon- 
sieur Gouin  is  a  pupil  of  the  Polytechnic  School ;  and  Monsieur 
Lavallee,  the  contractor,  to  whose  talent  and  energy  the  conception 
of  these  tools,  and  the  resumption  of  the  works,  is  due,  a  pupil  of 
his  late  father  at  the  Ecole  Centrale." 

Mr.  Sanmelson  thus  describes  the  wonderful   results 


92  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

which  have  been  achieved  at  Creuzot,  France,  by  the 
technical  education  of  the  workmen  and  by  perfect 
organization :  — 

"The  works  were  founded  in  1781,  and  dragged  on  a  precarious 
existence  until  they  were  purchased  by  Messieurs  Schneider,  in 
1836,  after  having  been  abandoned  for  several  years.  They  are  still 
the  property  of  Monsieur  Henry  Schneider  (president  of  the  Corps 
Legislatif),  of  his  son,  and  a  small  number  of  other  partners,  with 
limited  liability.  When  they  passed  into  the  hands  of  Messieurs 
Schneider,  sixty  thousand  tons  of  coal  were  raised,  and  four  thou- 
sand tons  of  iron  produced  annually ;  and  there  were  no  traces  of 
the  vast  mechanical  workshops  whose  magnificent  products  formed 
so  remarkable  a  feature  of  the  late  Paris  Exhibition. 

"  The  works  now  cover  three  hundred  acres ;  the  workshops  and 
forges,  fifty  acres ;  and  the  mines  yield  annually  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  tons  of  coal,  and  three  hundred  thousand  tons  of  iron 
ore :  three  hundred  thousand  tons  of  coal,  and  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  tons  of  ores,  are  purchased.  The  iron-works 
produce  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  tons  of  iron,  besides  ma- 
chinery, locomotive  and  marine,  iron  bridges  and  viaducts,  and 
even  iron  gun-boats  and  river-steamers,  of  an  average  yearly  value 
of  six  hundred  thousand  pounds.  The  pay-sheets  return  nine  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  fifty  work-people,  and  wages  amounting  to 
three  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  pounds  per  annum ;  and  the 
steam-engines  are  equal  to  a  duty  of  nearly  ten  thousand  horse-power. 
These  marvellous  works  have  therefore  been  virtually  created  in 
thirty  years ;  and,  in  fact,  the  well-built,  well-paved  town  of  Creuzot, 
with  its  churches,  its  schools,  its  markets,  its  gas  and  water  works, 
and  its  handsome  public  walks,  inhabited  by  nearly  twenty-four 


VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          93 

thousand  well-fed  and  decently-clad  people,  has  taken  the  place  of 
the  wretched  pit  village  of  two  thousand  seven  hundred  inhabitants 
of  1836.  There  is  no  overcrowding ;  the  space  in  the  dwelling- 
houses  averaging  one  thousand  one  hundred  cubic  feet  per  head 
of  the  population.  Notwithstanding  his  public  duties,  Monsieur 
Schneider  retains  the  chief  direction  of  the  works.  During  the  ses- 
sion of  the  chamber,  the  immediate  management  on  the  spot  is  in 
the  hands  of  his  son ;  but,  in  the  recess,  he  resides  at  Creuzot.  After 
having  conducted  me  for  several  hours  through  these  vast  works, 
Monsieur  Schneider  returned  to  his  office  to  complete  and  despatch 
his  correspondence,  and  debate  the  most  minute  economical  points, 
items  of  cost,  and  rates  of  carriage,  with  the  heads  of  departments; 
showing  himself,  as  he  expressed  it,  '  industrid  jusqu'au  bout  des- 
onc/les.'  He  will  forgive  me  for  entering  into  these  personal  details. 
They  are  interesting  to  France  and  to  England,  more  especially  to 
England,  where  high  political  duties  are  still  deemed  almost  incom- 
patible with  an  active  industrial  career. 

"To  describe  the  works  in  detail  would  carry  me  beyond  the 
limits  of  this  Report.  I  saw  no  new  mechanical  contrivances.  The 
best  English  designs  were  followed;  but  no  appliances  for  pro- 
ducing perfect  work,  or  for  economizing  the  cost  of  production, 
have  been  omitted ;  and  the  new  forge  contained  under  a  single 
roof  (a  thousand  three  hundred  feet  in  length  and  three  hundred 
and  ten  feet  in  breadth)  is  probably  unequalled  in  the  world.  A 
very  large  proportion  of  the  personnel  of  every  rank  in  this  great 
establishment  was  born  and  has  been  trained  on  the  spot ;  and  the 
possibility  of  thus  forming  highly-skilled  workmen,  competent  en- 
gineers and  accountants,  is  due,  in  a  great  measure,  to  a  system 
of  education,  dating  back  as  far  as  1841,  which,  though  it  is  mod- 
estly styled  elementary,  is  far  more  advanced  and  'special'  than 


94  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

the  terra  implies.  The  course — not  necessarily  followed  through- 
out by  all,  but  open  to  all  of  sufficient  capacity — extends  over  nine 
years,  and  includes  advanced  instruction  in  French  literature,  his- 
tory, geography,  natural  philosophy,  the  chemistry  of  metals,  al- 
gebra, geometry,  mechanical  and  freehand  drawing,  and  modelling. 
The  more  promising  boys  are  sent  to  the  secondary  and  higher 
technical  schools ;  and  many  a  Creuzot  laborer's  son  may  be  found, 
who,  having  passed  through  the  Ecole  des  Arts  et  Metiers,  at  Aix, 
has  returned  to  fill  a  responsible  position  in  the  technical  manage- 
ment. The  other  boys  are  drafted  from  the  school  into  the  works, 
and  placed  there  strictly  according  to  the  capacity  which  they  have 
shown  at  school ;  some  as  simple  workmen,  others  as  accountants 
or  as  draughtsmen.  Education  is  not  compulsory  ;  but  no  Creuzot 
boy  is  admitted  into  the  works  who  cannot  read  and  write,  and 
none  who  has  been  turned  out  of  school  for  misbehavior. 

"  No  doubt  many  of  the  boys,  as  they  grow  -up,  unlearn  much  of 
what  they  have  accquired.  It  is  not  in  one  generation  that  the  most 
strenuous  efforts  in  favor  of  education  can  be  expected  to  bear  ripe 
fruit ;  but  a  proof  that  they  are  not  illusory  as  to  the  nia-s  may  !>e 
found  in  the  fact,  that  whereas,  amongst  those  employed  at  Creuzot, 
but  coining  from  the  villages  or  from  a  distance,  thirty-one  per  cent 
of  the  conscripts,  on  the  average  of  the  last  six  years,  were  illiterate, 
only  nine  per  cent  of  those  born  or  brought  up  in  the  town  were 
unable  to  read  and  write.  There  are  adult  classes,  less  as  a  cor- 
rective of  deficient  elementary  instruction  than  as  a  help  to  those 
who  wish  to  carry  their  studies  beyond  that  of  the  school.  They 
are  held  on  Tuesday,  Friday,  and  Sunday,  and  included,  at  the  out- 
set, reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geometry,  natural  philosophy, 
chemistry,  geography,  history,  linear  and  freehand  drawing,  and 
music;  but,  of  late  years,  sin  of  the  heads  of  departments,  pupils 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          95 

of  the  Ecole  des  Arts  and  Metiers,  have  been  appointed  to  teach 
special  classes,  bearing  directly  on  the  occupations  of  the  workmen, 
and  including,  as  one  of  the  most  important,  a  complete  course  of 
machine  drawing.  Though  the  proportion  of  adult  pupils  here, 
as  elsewhere,  is  small,  —  five  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  work- 
men, —  the  result  is,  that  Monsieur  Schneider,  in  walking  through 
the  sheds  where  several  pairs  of  marine  engines  were  being  erected, 
was  able  to  inform  me  that  there  was  not  a  man  amongst  the 
mechanics  employed  in  that  department  who  could  not  make  an 
accurate  drawing  of  the  work  on  which  he  was  engaged. 

"  What  this  signifies  and  is  worth,  a  mechanic  alone  can  fully  ap- 
preciate. Of  the  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  superior  engineers, 
managers,  book-keepers,  £c.,  a  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  or 
nearly  one-half,  were  educated  at  Creuzot ;  five  were  pupils  of  the 
Ecole  Centrale ;  five,  of  the  Imperial  Mining  School ;  twenty,  of  the 
three  Ecoles  des  Arts  and  Metiers ;  two,  of  the  Ecole  la  Martiniere 
at  Lyons;  a  hundred  and  four  from  various  schools.  Most  of 
the  latter,  however,  were  of  middle  age,  and  entered  Creuzot  when 
its  present  system  was  still  in  process  of  creation.  The  schools 
which  were  opened  in  1841  with  ninety-one  children  contained 
4,065  in  1866,  of  whom  2,219  were  boys;  the  entire  number  of 
children  in  Creuzot  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen  being  '4,638 
at  the  same  period.  There  are  eleven  schoolmasters,  under  a  chief 
director,  in  the  boys'  schools ;  and  the  girls  are  taught  by  eleven 
soeurs.  The  school-fees  are  seven  pence  per  month  for  the  chil- 
dren of  persons  employed  in  the  works,  and  fourteen  pence  for  those 
of  strangers.  Wages,  though  they  have  increased  about  one-half 
during  the  last  twenty  years,  are  still  low  compared  with  those  to 
which  we  are  accustomed.  They  amount,  on  the  average  of  the 
entire  establishment,  to  2s.  IQd.  per  day,  including  the  unskilled 


96  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

laborers  and  boys.  The  average  wages  of  those  employed  at  the 
mines  and  coal-pits  are  2s.  8d. ;  at  the  forges,  3s. ;  at  the  blast-fur- 
naces, 2s.  3d. ;  and  in  the  workshops,  2s.  3d. :  but  the  more  highly 
skilled  mechanics  will  earn  as  much  as  6s.  6d.,  and  the  puddlers 
from  6s.  to  9s.  &d.  per  day.  The  lowest  wages  of  the  latter,  accord- 
ing to  a  pay-sheet  exhibited  in  the  forge  at  the  time  of  my  visit, 
were  5s.  Gd. ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  whilst,  in  nearly 
every  other  department,  the  working-staff  is  recruited  amongst  the 
children  of  the  work-people,  they  are  averse  to  the  rude  task  of  the 
puddling  furnaces,  in  spite  of  the  attraction  of  high  pay  :  so  that  in 
this  branch  the  labor  is  imported  generally  from  the  surrounding 
villages ;  boys  being  taken  into  the  forge  at  the  ages  of  sixteen  and 
seventeen,  when  their  frames  are  approaching  maturity.  But  the 
tendency  of  modern  improvements  is  to  substitute  mechanical  and 
chemical  processes  for  such  work  as  that  of  .puddling  ;  and  it  will 
probably  not  be  long  before  it  is  superseded.  Meanwhile,  the  em- 
ployment of  children  of  tender  years  during  the  night  is  almost  en- 
tirely dispensed  with.  Girls  under  seventeen  are  never  admitted. 
Women  do  not  work  below  the  surface,  as  they  do  in  Belgium  ;  and 
the  few  females  in  the  works,  only  four  per  cent  of  the  whole,  are 
employed  in  the  light  day-work  of  dressing  ores,  and  similar  occupa- 
tions. Boys  scarcely  ever  enter  the  works  before  fourteen.  Every 
person  is  paid  immediately  by  the  proprietors,  and  nearly  all  l>y  the 
piece  or  the  ton.  The  ruinous  system  of  contracts  with  middlemen, 
pursued  in  our  iron  works,  is  unknown.  There  are  no  "butties," 
no  forge  contractors  earning  their  two  pounds  per  day,  no  "  under- 
hands  "  paid  by  puddlers :  the  humblest  laborer  comes  into  personal 
contact  with  the  managers ;  and  his  work  is  appraised  by  men  of 
education,  and  paid  for  according  to  its  relative  value.  Tables 
showing  the  actual  daily  earnings  of  every  man  are  suspended  in 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          97 

the  workshops  of  the  several  departments,  so  as  to  be  open  to  the 
inspection,  and  to  stimulate  the  emulation,  of  all. 

"  In  reference  to  the  moral  condition  of  the  population,  I  will 
simply  state,  that,  during  fifteen  years,  the  entire  number  of  serious 
felonies  in  the  town  of  Creuzot  was  twenty-three  ;  but  of  these  only 
nine  would  have  been  felonies  according  to  our  law.  The  number 
of  misdemeanors  was  about  forty  annually ;  but  many  of  these 
would  not  have  constituted  breaches  of  the  law  with  us :  amongst 
others,  I  may  mention  simple  bankruptcy,  maiming  to  escape  mili- 
tary service,  and  abusive  language.  I  was  told  that  three  policemen 
form  the  entire  preventive  force.  Drunkenness  is  rare.  I  certainly 
did  not  observe  a  single  case  during  my  visit." 

TESTIMONY    OF    ENGLISH   ARTISANS. 

Through  the  efforts  of  the  English  Council  of  the 
Society  of  Arts,  sufficient  money  was  secured,  mainly 
by  private  subscription,  to  send  more  than  eighty 
skilled  workmen,  representing  almost  as  many  indus- 
tries, to  study  the  Paris  Exhibition,  1867,  and  to  visit 
different  parts  of  France  for  the  examination  of  various 
workshops  and  manufacturing  establishments.  Each 
workman,  upon  his  return,  was  required  to  furnish,  and 
did  furnish,  a  written  report  giving  the  result  of  his  ob- 
servations. To  most  of  them  report-writing  was  a 
novel  labor;  but  their  reports,  compactly  filling  a  vol- 
ume of  some  seven  hundred  pages,  form  one  of  the 
most  valuable  contributions  to  the  industrial  literature 
of  the  day. 


98  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

Mr.  Thomas  Connolly,  stone-mason,  says  :  — 

"  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  loss  which  is  entailed  upon 
England  through  the  neglect  of  art  culture  in  every  department  of 
our  industry.  Through  it  we  are  reduced  to  mere  hewers  of  wood 
and  drawers  of  water  for  other  nations.  The  bulk  of  onr  able- 
bodied  population  is  engaged  in  manufacturing  goods  to  be  sold 
cheap,  or  in  producing  raw  materials  for  other  people  to  work; 
while  the  more  delicate  portion  have  to  subsist  on  their  earnings  for 
want  of  employments  suitable  to  their  strength.  The  streets  of 
London  and  our  large  towns  are  torn  up  with  heavy  traffic,  which  is 
scarcely  perceptible  in  Paris ;  for,  if  a  ton  of  iron  enters  there  (for 
which  we  may  get  less  than  a  pound),  they  are  sure  to  put  a  hun- 
dred pounds'  worth  of  labor  on  it  before  it  leaves  their  hands.  .  .  . 

"  When  a  stone  has  to  be  worked  to  a  mould,  or  fitted  to  a  square 
or  a  straight-edge,  no  man  can  do  it-  more  workmanlike,  or  to  a 
greater  perfection,  than  an  English  mason  ;  but,  when  the  hands 
have  to  realize  the  imagination,  the  Frenchman's  familiarity  with 
art,  and  his  early  training  in  its  principles,  enable  him  to  outstrip 
us  ;  and,  as  every  building  in  Paris  is  more  or  less  decorated  with 
carving,  you  are  at  a  loss  to  know  how  they  get  all  their  art  work- 
men. But  the  difficulty  would  not  appear  so  much,  if  you  could 
read  the  large  placards,  in  French,  which  are  posted  up  at  the  ends 
of  the  bridges  and  other  public  places,  informing  workmen  where 
they  can  be  taught  drawing  and  modelling  every  evening  free  of 
expense.  That  he  outstrips  the  Englishman  in  this  respect  does 
not,  I  feel  certain,  arise  from  the  possession  of  an  especial  art 
genius,  but  because  whatever  of  it  is  in  him  is  fully  developed,  and 
encouragement  is  given  to  its  practice  ;  and,  if  English  workmen  are 
behind  in  this  respect,  it  is  not  because  art  genius  is  deficient  in  our 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.          99 

nature,  but  because  it  is  not  developed  and  encouraged  sufficient- 

ly.  .  •  • 

"  The  French  Exhibition  has  shown  us  that  England  is  far 
behind  in  art  manufacture;  so  that  any  suggestion  for  our  im- 
provement is  worth  considering.  I  believe  the  superiority  of  the 
French  is  owing  to  their  education,  and  study  of  their  business,  both 
in  and  out  of  the  workshop,  to  a  greater  extent  than  Englishmen." 

Mr.  W.  T.  Swene,  practical  superintendent  of  glass- 
works, Birmingham,  says  :  — 

"  But  I  cannot  refrain  from  once  more  pointing  out  the  necessity 
that  exists  for  art  teaching;  for  we  not  only  want  skilled  designers, 
but  we  want,  in  a  greater  degree,  a  knowledge  of  art  on  the  part  of 
our  workmen.  For  how  can  a  glass-blower  who  cannot  draw  the 
most  simple  curve  be  expected  to  have  a  correct  eye  for  form,  and 
true  judgment  in  the  proportions  of  the  articles  he  is  called  upon 
to  make?  Or  the  glass-cutter  similarly  situated,  how  can  he  be 
expected  to  combine  his  decorations  so  as  to  improve,  and  not  to 
spoil,  the  forms  put  into  his  hands  ?  In  the  most  important  point, 
we  may  readily  receive  a  great  lesson  from  the  Continental  workers, 
who,  while  improving  in  a  great  degree  in  the  quality  and  execution 
of  their  work,  never  lose  sight  of  the  importance  of  combining 
industrial  skill  with  the  application  of  art  knowledge." 

Mr.  Benjamin  Lucraft,  chair-maker,  says :  — 

"  Not  so  with  chairs  of  an  artistic  character  :  the  lines  arc  only  a 
guide  up  to  a  certain  point;  and,  from  that  point,  the  mere  workman 
stands  not  the  slightest  chance  with  the  workman  of  a  cultivated 


100  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

taste.  The  art  workman  of  Franco  has  a  great  advantage  over  us 
in  England.  In  Paris  they  are  surrounded  hy  works  of  that  kind, 
which  none  but  the  most  obtuse  can  long  remain  uninfluenced  by. 
Their  museums  and  palaces  are  centra],  and  most  numerous:  their 
decorations  and  furniture  are  of  the  highest  order,  and  nearly 
always  open  to  the  people.  Even  the  Palace  of  Versailles,  with  its 
beautiful  Louis  Quatorze  decorations,  can  be  reached  by  rail  as 
readily  as  I  can  reach  South  Kensington  from  my  house  at  Isling- 
ton. I  mention  these  advantages  the  French  enjoy,  to  show,  to  those 
who  think  climate  and  our  plodding  race  have  something  to  do  with 
our  want  of  taste,  that  there  are  other  causes." 

Mr.  James  Mackie,  wood-carver,  says :  — 

"  Our  great  want  is  good  designs,  something  that  shall  not  be 
an  unmeaning  jumble,  a  more  intelligent  direction  in  carrying 
them  out,  a  liberal  use  of  thoroughly  modelled  works  to  be  repro- 
duced in  the  wood ;  and  not  till  then  shall  we  have  a  chance  of 
reaching  the  goal  side  by  side  with  other  nations." 


Mr.  K.  Baker,  wood-carver,  says :  — 


"  In  comparison  with  the  French,  the  English  can-ing  is  tame 
and  spiritless.  The  French  workman  seems  imbued  with  a  true  love 
of  his  art,  and  executes  it  with  a  warmth  of  feeling  which  gives  it 
life  and  sentiment ;  and  this  gives  his  work  its  superiority.  If  we 
examine  attentively  a  portion  of  French  work,  we  find  the  main 
object  of  the  carver  is  to  give  his  work  spirit  and  expression.  Take 
a  rose,  for  instance  :  it  expresses  all  the  characteristics  of  a  rose  : 
the  form,  the  life,  and  even  the  color,  is  there  substituted  ;  and  yet  it 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.         101 

is  not  the  exact  copy  of  the  form  of  a  rose,  for,  if  it  <vaS,  "it  Vtotfld 
look  poor  and  lifeless ;  but  it  looks  rich,  and  full  of  ftfe!  and'^n^f^^ 
done  with  comparatively  little  labor.  The  carver  mult1  "understand 
and  feel  the  true  spirit  of  the  object  he  is  carving,  otherwise  he  may 
bestow  much  labor,  and  display  much  skill  and  cleverness  in  tool- 
ing; but  his  work  will  still  be  deficient  in  that  which  is  essential  to 
its  artistic  merit :  not  that  there  is  a  total  absence  of  this  artistic 
feeling  in  the  English  work;  but  they  seem  to  have  studied  cutting 
their  work  sharp  and  clean,  in  preference  to  any  thing  else.  As  a 
whole,  the  English  carving  is  equal,  and  perhaps  superior,  to  any  of 
their  previous  exhibitions.  Their  progress  is  seen  not  so  much  in 
what  is  actually  exhibited,  as  in  the  almost  entire  absence  of 
decidedly  bad  work.  There  are  scarcely  any  of  those  tame  and  labori- 
ous imitations  of  nature  which  usually  abound  in  our  exhibitions. 
This  indicates  improvement  in  taste.  .  .  . 

"  The  French  workman  is  generally  supplied  with  good  designs 
and  models,  which  he  slightly  alters  to  suit  the  grain  of  his  wood, 
without  injuring  the  original  design:  this  facilitates  his  progress. 
In  fact,  the  employers  seem  to  give  their  workmen  every  scope  and 
encouragement  for  the  display  of  their  abilities.'"' 

Mr.  Thomas  Jacob,  cabinet-draughtsman,  says :  —  • 

"  France  is  certainly  before  us  in  design,  but  not  in  workman- 
ship. If  steady  hard  labor  or  good  sound  workmanship  is  required, 
the  English  mechanic  is  second  to  none  in  the  world,  provided  he 
has  the  tools  and  materials  to  work  with  ;  but,  if  art  workmanship 
is  required,  it  must  come  from  a  man,  who,  besides  being  a  good 
mechanic,  must,  to  some  extent  at  least,  be  able  to  use  the  pencil  also. 
This  being  the  case,  just  as  education  proceeds,  and  a  taste  for  the 
9* 


102  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 


beautiful  is  diffused  among  workingmen  generally,  by  means  of 
schools, o^  art  and  fret?  access  to  our  museums,  particularly  on  Sun- 
days, so  will  art  workmanship  in  this  country  rise  to  at  least  a 
level  with  that  which  is  so  much  admired  abroad.  .  .  . 

"  The  French  carvers  do  not  work  mechanically  :  invariably  they 
make  their  own  models  to  begin  with,  receiving  only  a  rough  sketch 
from  the  draughtsman;  it  being  generally  left  to  their  taste  to 
arrange  it,  so  that  they  work  in  perfect  freedom,  with  greater  pleas- 
ure, and  thus  perfection." 

Mr.  L.  S.  Booth  of  Coventry,  reporting  on  ribbons, 
says :  — 

"The  ribbons,  as  a  whole,  are  artistic  in  design,  harmonious  in 
color,  and  perfect  in  workmanship.  No  painter  ever  put  color  on 
canvas,  and  made  those  colors  appear  like  real  fruit  or  flowers,  with 
bloom  and  every  variety  of  tint,  with  more  success  than  have  the 
varied  artisans  engaged  iu  this  trade  done.  The  productions  are 
perfect  specimens  of  their  kind ;  in  which  the  artist  has  brought  all 
his  varied  power  to  imitate  nature  in  form,  the  chemist  in  hue  and 
color,  and  the  artisan  judgment  and  skill  to  work  the  whole,  and 
make  a  success.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten,  that,  in  producing 
these  patterns,  there  has  been  an  enormous  outlay  by  the  manu- 
facturer for  design,  draught,  and  cards. 

"  To  look  at  these  articles  in  detail,  we  must  begin  with  those 
produced  in  France,  the  first  by  way  of  order  and  also  excellence." 

Mr.  John  Randall,  china-painter,  says  :  — 

"When  we  come  to  high-class  ornamentation  in  iron,  earthen- 
ware, china,  or  glass,  the  superiority  of  French  art  is  obvious.  As 


VALUE  OF  TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.        103 

long  as  we  confine  ourselves  to  geometrical  forms  in  hammering, 
pressing,  turning  on  the  lathes,  or  printing  on  the  surface,  we  have 
no  difficulty  in  holding  our  own ;  but  where  an  intellectual  ism  is 
concerned,  or  a  free  educated  hand  is  required  in  decoration,  our 
deficiencies  become  apparent.  The  fault  is  less  our  own  than  our 
rulers',  who  have  denied  us  education,  or  who  have,  at  least,  given 
us  nothing  to  fit  us  for  our  destinations  in  life,  but  have  left  us 
groping  in  the  dark,  forever  feebly  attempting  to  overtake  lost 
opportunities." 

TESTIMONY    OF   J.    SCOTT    RUSSELL. 

Mr.  J.  Scott  Russell,  the  builder  of  "  The  Great  East- 
ern," is  one  of  the  most  justly  eminent  authorities  on 
the  education  of  the  working-classes.  From  his  book, 
"  Systematic  Technical  Education  of  the  English  Peo- 
ple," the  following  extracts  are  made :  — 

"  It  is  shown  how  easily  education  might  double  the  value  of  the 
woi'k  done,  of  the  profit  reaped,  and  of  the  wages  received. 
Twenty-five  pounds  represents  the  actual  cost  in  education  of  a 
highly  skilled  over  a  skilless  workman  :  in  other  words,  the  cost 
of  producing  a  skilled  workman  is  less  than  one  year's  purchase 
of  his  increased  value  to  the  nation.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  notorious  that  those  foreign  railways  which  have  been  made 
by  themselves  in  the  educated  countries  of  Germany  and  Switzerland 
have  been  made  far  cheaper  than  those  constructed  by  us  in  Eng- 
land :  it  is  known  that  they  have  been  made  by  pupils  of  the  in- 
dustrial schools  and  technical  colleges  of  these  countries ;  and  I 
know  many  of  their  distinguished  men  who  take  pride  in  saying 


104         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

that  they  owe  their  positions  entirely  to  their  technical  schools.  I 
find  everywhere  throughout  their  work  marks  of  that  method,  order, 
symmetry,  and  absence  of  waste,  which  arise  from  plans  well  thought 
out,  the  judicious  application  of  principles,  conscientious  parsimony, 
and  a  high  feeling  of  professional  responsibility.  In  the  accurate 
cutting  of  their  slopes  and  embankments,  in  the  careful  design  and 
thoughtful  execution  of  their  beautiful  but  economical  stone-masonry, 
in  the  self-denying  economy  of  their  large  span  bridges,  the  experi- 
enced traveller  can  read  as  he  travels  the  work  of  a  superiorly 
educated  class  of  men;  and  when  we  come  down  to  details,  to  the 
construction  of  permanent  way,  arrangements  of  signals,  points, 
and  sidings,  and  the  endless  details  of  stations,  we  everywhere  feel 
that  we  are  in  the  hands  of  men  who  have  spared  no  pains,  and  who 
have  applied  high  professional  skill  to  minute  details.  .  .  . 

"It  seems  to  me  almost  an  axiom,  that  intelligent  men  must  do 
better  work  than  boors ;  that  trained,  skilled  men  must  do  better 
work  than  clumsy  and  awkward  ones;  and  that  the  more  any  man 
knows  of  the  objects  and  methods  of  his  own  work,  and  of  the  work 
of  all  those  who  around  him  are  engaged  in  co-operation,  the  more 
likely  he  is  to  do  his  own  part  well,  and  so  as  to  make  it  exactly  fit 
into  and  form  one  with  his  neighbor's  work.  Thus  I  think  that  :ui 
intelligent  community  of  workmen  will  get  through  their  work 
quicker,  will  fit  the  parts  more  nicely,  will  finish  off  every  thing  more 
sharply,  will  waste  less  material  by  trial  and  error,  and  so  give 
higher  value,  as  well  as  quality  and  durability,  to  all  their  work,  than 
ignorant,  unrefined,  ill-educated  men.  .  .  . 

"  An  important  but  perhaps  not  an  obvious  result  ot  the  syste- 
matic technical  education  of  men  of  every  class  trained  together  in 
the  same  schools,  colleges,  and  university,  would  be  a  transference 
of  the  same  organization  from  the  school  to  the  workshop,  and  an 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.        105 

amount  of  good  understanding  between  all  fellow-workers,  which 
cannot  fail  to  lighten  individual  labor,  to  save  much  waste  of  pains, 
materials,  and  thought,  and  to  give  great  unity  and  perfection  to  the 
work  done.  The  master  being  only  a  degree  better  educated  and 
instructed  than  his  foreman,  it  is  plain  that  less  pains  will  be  re- 
quired to  make  him  understand  what  he  is  to  undertake  and  do,  and 
how  he  is  to  set  about  and  do  it ;  and  thus  the  master's  work  will 
be  all  the  easier,  and  his  anxiety  about  its  satisfactory  execution  all 
the  less.  Next,  the  foreman  or  leading  workman  will  be  only  a 
little  more  able  and  better  informed  than  the  men  under  him,  and 
only  a  little  less  skilled  than  his  master,  so  that  he  can  easily  make 
his  wishes  known  to  those  who  have  so  much  knowledge  in  common. 
The  men,  on  the  other  hand,  are  perfectly  prepared  by  their  educa- 
tion and  skill  to  comprehend  the  aim  of  their  work,  and  its  relation 
to  the  materials  and  the  processes  of  which  they  are  masters. 

"Here,  then,  is  produced  by  community  of  education  that 
variety  of  co-operation  by  which  the  greatest  and  noblest  works  can 
be  executed  in  the  best  and  highest  way. 

"  Where,  on  the  contrary,  workmen,  superintendents,  masters, 
have  all  received  independent  training,  and  come  from  classes  of 
society  kept  apart  from  each  other,  even  in  their  elementary  educa- 
tion, the  workman  more  or  less  illiterate,  the  master  perhaps  a 
scholar,  but  unskilled  in  work,  it  is  plain,  that,  for  some  time  at 
least,  they  will  be  kept  far  asunder  by  want  of  common  ground  for 
sympathy.  To  remedy  this  evil,  the  workman  should  have  had  a 
higher  education,  the  master  a  more  technical  training ;  but,  in  the 
absence  of  these,  what  generally  happens  is  a  cure  which  perpetu- 
ates and  exaggerates  the  distance  between  them.  A  middle-man 
steps  in  between  the  two, — sometimes  he  is  a  contractor  for  the 
labor  of  the  men,  —  who  says  to  the  master,  '  I  know  the  nature 


106  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

of  the  men  and  their  work  ;  give  me  the  money  you  have  set  aside, 
and  I  will  sec  that  they  do  the  work,  and  undertake  that  it  is  done 
for  the  money.'  He  takes  care,  of  course,  that  he  himself  is  well 
paid.  The  wider  the  distance  between  master  and  men,  the  larger 
the  margin  for  his  profit ;  it  becomes  his  interest  that  this  margin 
shall  grow :  hence  hi.s  skill  is  devoted  to  diminishing  the  wages  of 
the  workman  and  the  profits  of  the  masters.  To  the  men  he  com- 
plains that  the  master  is  a  screw;  to  the  master  he  complains  that 
the  men  won't  work.  Thus  between  uneducated  men  and  un- 
skilled masters  a  breach  is  made,  ever  growing  wider  and  deeper. 
At  the  root  of  much  of  the  system  of  combination  of  men  against 
masters  will  be  found  to  lie  this  primary  incongruity  of  knowledge 
and  ignorance,  skill  and  unskill;  and  from  it  an  alienation  of  in- 
terests ever  growing,  and  always  fostered  by  meddling  middle-men, 
who  at  last  become  an  indispensable  but  baleful  element,  begin- 
ning with  conciliation,  and  ending  with  alienation.  It  matures 
into  class  distinction  of  the  worst  sort,  continually  deepening  into 
class  antipathy.  .  .  . 

"That  systematic  education  would  lead  to  greater  equality  in 
the  distribution  of  wealth,  to  a  truer  appreciation  of  each  man's 
worth,  and  to  a  deeper  interest  of  each  man  in  his  neighbor's  well- 
doing, is  not  difficult  to  recognize.  First,  by  equality  of  education 
inequalities  in  birth  and  fortune  arc  in  some  measure  equalized. 
Second,  when  all  men  of  the  same  district  and  of  the  same  age  have 
been  trained  up  in  the  same  technical  schools,  even  though  some 
have  enjoyed  a  longer  period  there  than  others,  it  will  follow  that 
their  talents  and  characters  are  known  to  and  appreciated  by  their 
comrades ;  and  the  place  of  each  man  in  the  rank  and  file  of  society 
is  felt  and  conceded.  The  fool  cannot  set  up  as  master,  nor  the  ig- 
norant man  as  foreman ;  neither  would  it  be  permitted,  that,  without 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTKUCTION.        107 

merit,  one  man  should  monopolize  a  large  portion  of  the  joint  earn- 
ings. The  master's  merits  will  be  valued  on  some  such  principle 
as  the  man's  merits ;  and  the  share  of  the  joint  produce  to  which 
a  master  may  be  fairly  entitled  would  be  subject  to  the  same  appre- 
ciation as  the  earnings  of  each  man.  Capital  would  still  be  entitled 
to  interest,  and  labor  to  wages ;  but  why  capital  should  absorb  the 
profits  of  labor  would  be  a  question  as  open  to  debate  as  why  one 
man  should  reap  the  crop  which  another  had  labored.  In  actual  trade 
n  very  common  practice  is,  that  capital  shall  not  merely  have  in- 
terest, but  shall,  in  addition,  put  a  large  quantity  of  wages  into  the 
pocket  of  the  capitalist,  to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  business 
profits ;  and  that,  of  course,  is  so  much  subtracted  from  the  wages  of 
the  men  who  do  the  work :  but  when  education  has  given  to  each 
man  a  knowledge  of  all  the  branches  of  his  work,  and  there  remains 
no  difference  of  rank,  excepting  superior  skill  and  intelligence,  then 
each  man's  individual  work  will  be  weighed  in  the  balance;  and 
the  true  share  of  his  merit  will  be  appraised  in  the  scale  of  wages. 
The  question  will  be,  how  much  in  that  scale  the  true  earnings  of 
one  man  outweigh  those  of  another.  Under  the  present  system,  the 
master  of  a  thousand  men  may  pocket,  in  the  shape  of  profits,  one- 
half  of  the  whole  earnings  of  all  the  men,  or  he  may  pocket  only  a 
sum  equal  to  the  wages  of  a  hundred  men  ;  but  it  will  then  be  a 
matter  for  consideration  whether  one  man  in  the  same  trade,  pos- 
sessing skill  of  the  same  sort,  can  really  be  entitled  to  a  just  charge 
for  his  services  of  ten  or  a  hundred  times  the  wages  of  his  skilled 
and  educated  fellow.  It  is  plain,  that,  under  such  a  scale  of  estima- 
tion, these  unequal  proportions  would  be  likely  to  diminish  ;  and  in 
the  end  that  would  be  considered  great  merit  which  should  give  a 
man  not  only  the  honor  of  leading  his  fellow-craftsmen,  but  also 
the  advantage  of  double  wages :  the  idea  of  giving  him  tenfold  or  a 


108         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

hundred-fold  would  have  disappeared  from  the  catalogue  of  possi- 
bilities. The  education  of  the  future  will,  therefore,  lead  to  a  great 
reduction  of  masters'  wages  or  profits,  and  to  a  fair,  fixed  remunera- 
tion for  capital  invested,  and  to  a  fair  division  of  the  earnings  for 
work  among  those  skilled  men  who  execute  it,  in  some  recognized 
proportion  to  the  contribution  which  their  skill  makes  to  the  com- 
mon work.  Equality  will  be  then,  as  now,  impossible ;  but  the 
scale  of  each  man's  life  may  be  one  of  steady,  continual,  meritorious 
rise.  .  .  . 

"In  our  opinion,  the  philosophers  are  far  before  the  people  in  fore- 
seeing the  times  that  are  coming ;  and  the  people  don't  take  warn- 
ing because  they  are  not  educated.  Agriculture  is  in  revolution ; 
for  agriculture  is  becoming  chemistry,  and  husbandry  is  becoming 
machinery :  yet  our  agriculturists  have  not  become  chemists,  nor 
our  husbandmen  mechanics.  In  common  trades  a  revolution  is 
coming ;  for  all  that  is  done  without  skill  is  going  to  be  done  by 
dead  machinery,  not  by  intelligent  men  ;  and  it  is  well  that  it  should 
be  so,  for  mere  routine  processes,  requiring  brute  strength,  without 
refinement  or  intelligence,  can  all  be  better  done,  more  evenly,  regu- 
larly, and  unvaryingly,  by  dead  matter  than  by  living  force ;  and 
it  is,  moreover,  better  for  the  intelligent  and  moral  being  that  he 
should  not  be  degraded  to  the  level  of  the  brute  elements,  or 
lowered  to  the  rank  of  an  unsentient  machine.  Why  should  a 
human  being  be  doomed  to  spend  his  days  in  mounting  and 
descending  a  ladder  with  twenty-seven  burnt  bricks  on  his  shoulder, 
while,  at  one-tenth  of  the  cost,  a  machine  made  of  iron,  and  fed  with 
coal,  will  do  the  work,  if  he  will  only  undertake  the  more  intelligent 
task  of  tending,  feeding,  oiling,  and  repairing  it?  This  last  d*e- 
mands  education,  intelligence,  conscientious  care,  all  the  qualities 
that  go  to  make  a  man  a  superior,  thoughtful  being.  Who,  then, 


VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION,        109 

can  regret  the  time  coming  when  every  occupation  which  requires 
no  skill,  and  only  brute  force,  shall  cease  to  be  the  daily  work  of 
a  human  being,  and  when  that  being  shall  be  raised  to  be  a  maker, 
worker,  or  director  of  machines  ? 

"  To  that  time  the  working-man  is  rapidly  approaching,  and  for 
it  he  must  befitted;  but  above  and  over  him  will  arise  the  class, 
who,  in  their  turn,  are  to  instruct,  guide,  and  think  for  him.  How- 
ever skilled  to  work  his  machine,  he  will  still  depend  on  a  superior 
to  invent  or  make  it ;  on  a  man  who  shall  go  before  him  to  lay  out 
his  work  and  prepare  it;  on  a  man  who  shall  come  after  him  to 
complete  it.  These  are  the  higher  departments  which  form  the 
higher  ranks  of  crafts :  in  short,  above  the  skilled  doers  we  must 
have  the  skilled  thinkers. 

"In  this  view  of  an  intelligent,  skilled  nation,  it  is  plain  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  do  without  the  unskilled,  the  unintelligent,  and  the 
uneducated.  We  shall  not  merely  be  able  to  do  without  him ;  but 
we  shall  think  it  better  to  be  without  him.  The  law  of  society 
will  become  this,  —  that  he  who  cannot  create  his  food  shall  not 
eat  it;  for  assuredly  in  the  time  that  is  coming  he  will  not  find  in 
civilized  Europe  a  place  for  him.  The  man  of  the  future  must 
have  one  of  two  qualifications,  —  skill  to  do,  education  to  know, — 
or  both.  .  .  . 

"  What  is,  then,  the  mercantile  or  moneyed  value  of  a  well-trained 
skilful  Englishman,  as  compared  to  a  strong,  able-bodied  man  who 
understands  no  craft,  handiwork,  or  art  ?  The  shop-value  of  the 
two  men  is  at  once  told  by  the  labor-market.  The  one  man  can 
earn  for  the  community  twenty-five  pounds  a  year;  the  other  man 
has  an  average  of  sixty  pounds,  and,  with  superior  skill,  a  hundred 
pounds  a  year.  Or  if  we  take  the  three  grades  of  unskilled,  moder- 
ately skilled,  and  highly  skilled  men,  we  may  represent  their  mean 
10 


110  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

values  by  twenty-five  pounds,  fifty  pounds,  and  seventy-five  pounds  : 
in  other  words,  the  highly  skilled  man  is  worth  three  times  the 
value  of  the  unskilled  man. 

"  At  the  present  time,  there  are  (in  England)  about  a  million  of 
skilled  workmen ;  but  there  are  a  million  of  very  poorly  skilled,  and 
two  millions  of  utterly  unskilled  men.  Supposing-  that  by  educa- 
tion we  can  raise  the  million  of  lower  skilled  into  highly  skilled 
men,  and  replace  them  by  one  million  of  unskilled  men,  raised  by 
some  little  education  to  their  rank,  we  have  by  that  single  act 
earned  for  the  country  fifty  million  pounds  a  year. 

"  We  can  now  put  the  question  in  a  new  and  very  precise  form  : 
Is  the  addition  of  fifty  million  pounds  per  annum  to  the  nation's 
wealth,  through  increased  training,  knowledge,  and  skill,  worth  the 
annual  outlay  of  a  million  pounds  from  the  nation's  budget. 

"  There  is,  however,  an  important  practical  question  to  be  asked. 
Skill,  capacity,  and  ability  are  not  in  themselves  wealth ;  and  it 
may  not  be  clear  and  obvious  how  this  additional  fifty  million 
pounds  is  to  be  earned  without  the  addition  of  a  single  man  to  the 
population.  The  manner  in  which  skill  creates  wealth  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  understand.  Take  one  million  tons  of  the  iron  which  we 
export  from  this  country  in  little  better  than  the  brute  form  in 
which  Nature  has  providently  stored  it  up  for  us  immediately  be- 
low the  skin  of  our  soil,  and  for  which  we  now  receive  barely  three 
million  pounds ;  let  us  suppose  that  we  expend  upon  that  iron  a 
little  of  the  skill  which  Mr.  Bessemer,  the  great  technical  school- 
master in  steel,  can  so  readily  teach  us  ;  and  let  us  convert  it  into, 
say,  half  a  million  of  Bessemer  steel  rails,  and  it  will  at  once  have 
risen  to  the  value  of  six  million  pounds  :  the  other  half  million  of 
tons  have  gone  to  supply  the  waste,  and  pay  the  other  costs  of  the 
process.  In  this  case  skill  has  earned  three  million  pounds  sterling 


VALUE   OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.        Ill 

in  a  highly  marketable  commodity.  But  we  need  not  stop  here. 
The  steel  in  these  rails  may  be  converted  by  still  higher  skill  into 
boilers,  wheels,  axles,  and  parts  of  locomotive  engines  ;  and,  if  the 
skilled  workmen  of  our  country  are  more  skilled  than  those  else- 
where, a  hundred  thousand  tons  of  that  steel  may  be  worked  up 
into  two  thousand  locomotive  engines  and  tenders,  which  will  alone 
be  worth  four  million  pounds ;  and  thus  the  value  of  this  portion  of 
the  steel  is  quadrupled. 

"  It  is  easy  to  imagine  what  may  be  done  with  the  remaining  four 
hundred  thousand  tons  of  steel.  Part  of  it  might  be  converted  into 
agricultural  steam-engines  and  steam-ploughs  to  till  every  man's 
fields  ;  and  in  that  shape  the  value  of  each  ton  might  be  taken  at 
fifty  pounds  a  ton  ;  so  that  a  hundred  thousand  tons  would  be- 
come worth  five  million  pounds.  Another  portion  might  form  the 
steel  of  still  smaller  tools  and  implements,  which,  in  proportion  to 
their  smallness  and  the  higher  ratio  of  skill  and  artifice,  would  easi- 
ly become  of  double  the  value,  or  ten  million  pounds.  There  can 
hence  be  no  difficulty  in  seeing  how  the  higher  skill  of  the  addi- 
tional million  of  skilled  men  whom  we  have  raised  by  education 
could  be  able  to  earn  their  twenty-five  additional  millions  of  higher 
wages  ;  and,  moreover,  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  seeing  how  the 
less  skilled  million  below  them  could  earn  their  additional  wages  as 
helpers  to  these,  or  as  users  and  employers  of  the  improved  too*s 
and  machinery  which  the  others  had  created.  .  .  . 

"  But  to  return  to  the  mere  vulgar  usefulness  of  educated  human 
beings.  I  will  venture  a  remark  from  personal  experience  in  my 
profession,  which  I  trust  may  illustrate  the  vast  importance  to  us  of 
educating  not  only  governors,  or  masters,  but  of  extending  a  high 
scientific  education  and  skilled  technical  training  to  the  working- 
men  of  all  skilled  occupations.  It  is  this :  The  community  at 


112         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

large  are  deprived  of  the  use  of  enormous  treasures  in  mechanical 
invention,  and  enormous  progress  in  scientific  arts,  by  the  fact  of 
the  general  want  of  education  in  those  who  practise  them.  It  may 
not  be  known,  but  it  is  yet  true,  that  the  mechanical  power  em- 
ployed in  all  our  manufactures  is  infinitely  more  costly  than  it  need 
be.  It  is  equally  true  that  some  skilled  men  of  such  professions 
know  thoroughly  how  to  produce  immense  economy  in  the  produc- 
tion and  use  of  mechanical  power ;  but  that  we  dare  not  put  the 
means  into  the  hands  of  the  uneducated  masters  under  whose  con- 
trol they  would  be  applied.  I  am  not  now  speaking  of  a  loss  of 
five,  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty  per  cent:  I  say  that  we  know  that  ice 
are  only  utilizing  one-tenth  to  one-twentieth  of  the  power  we  employ  and 
waste,  and  that  an  economy  of  one  hundred,  two  hundred,  three  hundred, 
and  four  hundred  per  cent,  is  quite  within  our  power  so  soon  as  a  better 
informed,  higher  skilled,  more  perfectly  trained  class  of  men  and  masters 
shall  arise,  who  are  fit  to  be  trusted  with  the  use  of  instruments  and 
tools  at  present  utterly  beyond  their  comprehension,  control,  or 
application  to  use." 

The  following  is  from  the  Nineteenth  Report  (made 
in  1872)  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department  of  the 
Committee  of  Council  of  Education,  England  :  — 

"  The  steam  class  established  by  Mr.  Taylor,  Cushnie,  Kincar- 
dineshire,  for  the  instruction  of  ploughmen  in  the  management  of 
agricultural  steam-machinery,  has  also  been  successful.  Mr.  Tay- 
lor writes,  'As  to  the  ploughmen's  class  in  steam  and  mechanics, 
there  is  no  doubt,  that,  after  draining,  cultivation  by  steam-power  is 
one  of  the  greatest  modern  improvements  in  agriculture ;  but  the 
great  want  is  skilled  men  in  the  different  districts  competent  to 


VALUE  OF   TECHNICAL  INSTRUCTION.        113 

work  the  engines.  The  class  has  done  much  good  in  dispelling 
prejudice  which  existed  among  ploughmen  against  steam  cultiva- 
tion and  evening  classes.  For  the  first  time  they  find  that  edu- 
cation has  a  money-value.  In  the  last  letter  I  had  from  one  of  the 
men  sent  to  the  Scottish  Steam-Cultivation  Company,  he  told  mo 
he  was  then  earning  twenty-five  shillings  a  week  :  when  he  left, 
about  six  months  ago,  his  wages  would  be  about  fourteen  shillings. 
All  the  others  I  have  sent  are  getting  not  less  than  nineteen  shil- 
lings/ In  a  subsequent  letter,  Mr.  Taylor  states  that  he  has  received 
an  application  for  twenty  additional  trained  ploughmen,  —  an  appli- 
cation he  is  unable  to  comply  with.  The  demand  for  skilled  labor  of 
this  description  is  so  great,  that  Mr.  Taylor  intends  carrying  out  his 
class  through  the  summer  months,  instead  of,  as  customary,  only  in 

the  winter." 

10* 


CHAPTER  III. 

IMPORTANCE    OP   VARIED   EDUCATION. 

THE  testimony  of  the  extracts  given  in  this  chapter 
seems  to  place  it  beyond  question,  that, — 

1.  Special  knowledge  is  not  sufficient  to  produce  even 
the  best  special  results.     The  best  workman  is  always 
the  one  who  has  a  knowledge  of  tools   and   principles 
beyond  the  direct   requirement   of  his  work,  whatever 
that  may  be.     The  best  scientist  is  always  the  one  who 
acquaints  himself  with  other  departments  of  science  than 
the  one  to  which   he   is   specially  devoted.     The    best 
artist  is  always  the  one  who  does  not  limit  himself  to 
his  specialty,  but  studies  the  whole  circle  of  art.     This 
breadth  of  study  and  work  gives  a  breadth  of  knowledge 
and  training  which  decidedly  strengthens  the  man  for  his 
specialty,  be  that  however  rude. 

2.  A  thorough  technical  education,  embracing  all  that 
science  and  art  can  bestow,  is  not  enough  to  produce 
the  best  industrial  results :  there  is  need  of  the  addi- 

114 


IMPORTANCE  OF   VARIED  EDUCATION.       115 

tional  discipline  which  comes  only  from  the  study  of 
letters.  The  man  must  be  formed,  as  well  as  informed, 
before  he  is  fully  educated  even  for  practical  purposes. 
In  science  and  art  alone  there  is  not  enough  of  the  for- 
mative, disciplining,  shaping  element.  Whether  they 
have  more  of  this  element  or  less  than  letters,  may  be 
a  debatable  question  ;  but  they  certainly  have  less  than 
science,  art,  and  letters  together.  Hence,  in  the  edu- 
cation of  workmen,  the  literary  and  the  technical  should 
combine  ;  the  more  of  each,  the  better. 

3.  Since  apprenticeship  has  virtually  ceased  through 
the  subdivision  of  labor,  it  is  doubly  necessary  that  the 
public  schools  should  give  the  elements,  scientific  and 
artistic,  which  form  the  basis  of  a  technical  education. 
And  they  should  do  this  without  diminishing  the  lite- 
rary culture  they  now  impart.     Only  by  such  an  en- 
largement of  the  common    school   curriculum    can    the 
great  body  of  laborers  secure  the  education  so  essential 
for  their  welfare,  and  be  kept  from   degenerating  into 
mere  machines  for  doing  a  limited  variety  of  work. 

4.  The  introduction  of  systematic  manual  labor  into 
public  schools  for  elementary  instruction  appears  to  be 
a  thing  of  altogether  doubtful  expediency.     Girls  may 
be  advantageously  taught  the  use  of  the  needle ;  while 
boys  may,  by  way  of  pastime,  be  taught  the  use   of  a 
few  tools  by  using  them.     In  technical  schools,   how- 


116  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

ever,  manual  labor  may  be  judiciously  introduced ; 
but  it  should  never  take  the  leading  place.  This  man- 
ual labor  should  always  be  of  such  a  character  as  to 
show  the  student  the  practical  application  of  his  studies, 
and  not  labor  simply  to  aid  the  student  in  supporting 
himself.  It  is  questioned  by  some  whether  there  should 
be  any  manual  labor  at  all  in  the  highest  technical 
schools;  they  preferring  that  the  student  should  acquire 
what  of  practical  application  he  needs  by  work  in  actual 
fields  of  labor.  But  in  apprentice  schools,  —  schools 
attached  to  workshops  and  manufactories,  —  as  it  is  the 
leading  object  of  these  schools  to  teach  practical  appli- 
cations, systematic  manual  labor  should,  of  course,  form 
the  leading  feature  of  the  instruction  given.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  a  certain  amount  of  manual  labor, 
especially  if  it  shows  the  practical  application  of  the 
theory  which  the  student  is  acquiring,  does  not  retard, 
but  decidedly  promotes,  his  progress  in  theoretical 
knowledge. 

LITERARY   AND    SCIENTIFIC    TRAINING. 

The  following  is  from  the  evidence  of  M.  Monjean, 
Director  of  the  Chaptal  Municipal  School,  Paris,  taken 
by  the  French  Imperial  Commission  mentioned  in  the 
last  chapter :  — 


IMPORTANCE  OF   VARIED  EDUCATION.       117 

"  M.  Monjean's  observations  on  the  results  of  the  practical 
schools  (Real  Schulen)  in  Germany  have  led  him  to  the  conclusion, 
that  the  prevalence  of  an  instruction  purely  practical,  and  based 
entirely  on  the  applied  sciences,  has  directed  the  attention  of  young 
men  exclusively  to  subjects  of  self-interest  and  immediate  profit,  and 
has  quenched  the  generous  aspiration  which  sees  in  life  something 
else  than  mere  profit  to  be  realized :  the  moral,  in  fact,  is  sacrificed 
to  the  mechanical  man.  Moreover,  though  the  German  practical 
schools  have  produced  such  moral  results,  they  have  not  obtained 
for  industry  and  commerce  the  objects  they  had  in  view.  On  this 
point,  practical  experience  has  given  decisive  evidence.  Some  mer- 
chants of  Cologne  and  of  Magdeburg,  having  selected  from  the  prac- 
tical schools  and  the  gymnasia  a  certain  number  of  young  men  of 
equal  intelligence  and  capabilities,  placed  them  at  the  same  kind  of 
work.  For  a  short  time,  the  pupils  who  had  been  brought  up  at  the 
former  schools  maintained  a  certain  degree  of  superiority ;  but,  when 
they  had  been  submitted  to  a  longer  period  of  probation,  it  was 
found  that  they  were  beaten  by  the  pupils  of  the  gymnasia,  who, 
having  received  a  more  general  and  intelligent  education,  were 
better  adapted  for  all  pursuits  to  which  they  might  be  calLed.'* 

These  extracts  are  from  the  evidence  of  M-  Pompee, 
founder  and  proprietor  of  the  professional  school  at  lyry, 
vice-president  of  the  Polytechnic  Society,  &c^  taken 
by  the  French  Imperial  Commission : — 

"  M.  Pompee  finds  the  results  of  the  instruction,  and  the  success 
of  his  pupils,  to  be  most  satisfactory.  The  methods  adopted  are  of 
a  character  to  keep  the  attention  always  on  the  stretch ;  and  boys 
whom  want  of  success  in  their  classical  studies  has  rendered  dull, 


118  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

apathetic,  and  idle,  have  recovered  at  the  Ivry  school  all  their 
activity  of  mind  :  their  reasoning  powers  are  awakened  ;  they  take 
an  interest  in  their  work ;  masters  have  not  to  punish,  nor  parents 
to  complain.  The  employers  under  whom  they  find  situations  on 
leaving  school  are  the  first  to  discover  the  great  difference  between 
pupils  trained  on  this  plan  and  tlwse  who  have  received  a  classical 
education. 

"  On  the  whole,  M.  Pompde  thinks  that  the  tendency  to  attend 
special  rather  than  general  instruction  is  rapidly  increasing  in 
France,  notwithstanding  its  present  incomplete  organization.  Even 
in  the  university,  the  inspectors-general  have  had  occasion  to  remark 
the  -constant  augmentation  in  the  number  of  those  who  attend  the 
special  classes.  .  .  . 

"  In  reply  to  the  question  as  to  what  should  be  done  to  organize 
in  France  a  complete  system  of  professional  education,  M.  Fompec 
advocates  changes  of  rather  a  sweeping  character.  He  likens  his 
plan  to  a  railway  system,  with  its  main-line  stations,  junctions,  and 
branch  lines.  First,  taking  all  the  courses  of  study  at  present  pur- 
sued at  the  primary  schools,  the  technical  schools,  the  communal 
colleges,  and  the  lycees,  he  would  from  them  construct  one  general 
course,  to  extend  over  nine  years,  and  to  be  pursued  by  all  alike, 
rich  or  poor,  upper,  middle,  or  lower  class,  .sitting  side  by  side  on 
the  same  benches.  This  would  form  the  main  line  of  his  system  ;  but 
it  would  be  impossible  for  all  to  reach  the  advanced  years  of  the 
course.  Just  as  passengers  on  a  railway  get  out  at  the  different 
stations,  so  the  children,  who,  from  pecuniary  necessity  or  social 
position,  are  compelled  to  earn  their  livelihood  at  an  earlier  age, 
might  leave  school  at  any  point  of  this  course,  subject  to  certain 
conditions.  Along  the  main  line  he  would  place  his  branch  lines, 
—  the  special  schools,  which  would  take  at  particular  periods  from  the 


IMPORTANCE  OF   VARIED  EDUCATION.       119 

general  course  those  children  who  have  to  adopt  a  distinct  career  in 
life.  Thus  all  the  passengers  would  be  admitted  indiscriminately 
to  the  same  train  :  they  can  book  themselves  for  any  destination, 
they  can  be  carried  to  the  end  of  the  journey,  or  be  set  down  at  any 
station  they  may  please.  If  they  have  been  put  down  at  any  station, 
and  have  changed  their  mind  as  to  their  destination,  they  can  con- 
tinue on  the  same  road,  or  rejoin  the  nearest  branch,  without  being 
obliged  to  retrace  their  steps.  In  other  words,  if  such  a  general 
and  uniform  course  of  study  were  adopted,  we  should  seo  at  the  end 
of  every  scholastic  year  pupils,  more  or  less  advanced,  leaving  the 
various  classes,  all,  according  to  the  amount  of  knowledge  they 
have  acquired,  able  to  take  their  proper  place  in  the  different  strata 
of  social  stratificatio.i,  — some  entering  at  once  the  factory,  the  count- 
ing-house, or  the  workshop ;  others  to  undergo  their  apprenticeship 
in  the  agricultural,  commercial,  industrial,  or  art  schools  which  are 
ready  to  receive  them. 

"  As  regards  the  principal  course,  the  subjects  of  instruction  would 
be  arranged  progressively  for  each  succeeding  year  of  the  nine  years 
over  which  it  would  extend;  but  they  would  be  taught  in  a  different 
order,  and  on  different  methods  from  those  now  adopted.  Thus,  M. 
Pom  pee  would  postpone  the  commencement  of  the  study  of  the 
ancient  languages  (of  use  only  to  the  minority)  until  the  pupil  has 
reached  an  advanced  class,  when,  by  reason  of  the  knowledge  he  has 
already  acquired,  and  by  the  development  of  his  faculties,  he  could 
in  four  years  complete  with  pleasure  and  interest  the  classical  studies 
which  now  occupy  the  whole  of  his  time,  and  leave  behind  them 
often  nothing  but  the  recollection  of  fatigue  and  annoyance.  At 
this  time,  that  is  to  say,  when  the  pupil  is  thirteen  or  fourteen  years 
of  age,  the  others  who  had  not  determined  to  study  Latin  or  Greek 
will  either  have  left  school  altogether,  or  have  been  drafted  into  the 


120  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

institutions  for  special  instruction.  By  this  means,  all  will  have 
received  a  thoroughly  sound  elementary  and  general  education, 
forming  a  foundation  for  the  superstructure  of  an  extended  profes- 
sional or  technical  training." 

In  their  special  report  on  Bavaria,  the  Sub-Commission 
of  the  French  Imperial  Commission  says  :  — 

"  The  system  of  industrial  education  adopted  in  1864  has  recent- 
ly undergone  important  modifications,  which  have  been  suggested 
by  experience,  and  are  well  deserving  of  attention.  In  the  order  of 
things  established  in  virtue  of  a  new  law,  which  was  passed  after 
long  discussions,  the  trade  schools  were  to  draw  one  part  of  their 
pupils  from  those  educated  in  the  primary  schools,  and  the  other 
from  those  of  the  Latin  schools,  which  have  four  classes :  the  pu- 
pils from  the  latter,  however,  were  to  begin  with  the  second  year's 
course  of  studies.  On  the  other  hand,  the  instruction  given  in  the 
trade  schools,  which  have  been  somewhat  ambitiously  called  .«•/>/(- 
tific  gymnasia,  was  of  an  order  high  enough  to  enable  those  who  had 
received  it  entire  to  enter  the  polytechnic  institutes. 

"But  the  difference  in  the  origin  and  preparation  of  the  pupils 
of  these  schools  opposed  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  the 
teaching ;  and  it  was  likewise  ascertained,  that,  if  the  pupils  who 
entered  polytechnic  institutes  from  the  literary  gymnasia  appeared  at 
first  inferior  to  the  others  for  scientific  studies,  they  generally,  at  a 
later  period,  attained  the  superiority  over  those  from  the  scientific 
gymnasia.  The  pupils  from  these  last-named  establishments  were 
also  open  to  the  reproach  of  not  possessing  sufficient  literary  in- 
struction, of  being  unable  to  express  their  thoughts  in  a  clear  and 
elegant  style,  and  of  being  commonplace  both  in  thought  and  Ian- 


IMPOETANCE   OF  VARIED   EDUCATION.       121 

guage.  Five  years  since,  the  Bavarian  Council  of  Bridges  and 
Roads  had  decided  on  admitting  into  the  body  of  government  engi- 
neers none  but  those,  who,  before  entering  the  Polytechnic  School, 
had  followed  the  complete  course  of  the  literary  gymnasia.  The 
Administration  of  Mines  had  also  constantly  required  the  same 
qualifications. 

"One  of  the  distinguished  men,  who,  for  many  years  past,  have 
studied  this  important  question,  has  explained  the  change  which 
had  come  over  his  ideas  on  this  matter.  Being  a  devoted  friend  and 
successful  cultivator  of  the  sciences,  he  was  persuaded  that  their 
study,  the  habit  of  following  their  methods  of  explaining  and  of 
applying  their  results,  was  calculated,  as  well  as  the  culture  of  let- 
ters, to  develop  the  intelligence,  and  form  the  habit  of  clearly 
expressing  thought  in  good  language,  at  the  same  time  that  it  was 
capable  of  giving  a  higher  tone  to  mind.  While  professing  chem- 
istry, physics,  and  iiatural  history  in  one  of  the  first  trade  schools 
of  the  kingdom,  he  had  strenuously  supported  this  opinion,  which 
greatly  contributed  to  procuring  him  the  appointment  of  professor 
in  the  Munich  Polytechnic  Institute,  still  retaining  his  chair  in  the 
trade  school.  In  the  first-named  establishment  he  had  to  deal  with 
pupils  from  the  trade  school  or  scientific  gymnasium,  and  also  with 
those  from  the  literary  gymnasium.  But  he  soon  made  the  discov- 
ery, that,  though  the  pupils  trained  to  scientific  studies  appear  at 
first  most  competent  to  follow  out  their  applications,  those  who 
come  from  the  literary  gymnasia,  after  completing  their  studies 
there,  were  not  long  ere  they  surpassed  the  others.  This  personal 
experience,  after  long  and  conscientious  observation,  won  over  this 
eminent  professor  to  the  opinion  that  the  culture  of  letters  gives  the 
mind  a  clearness  of  conception  and  expression  most  favorable  to  the 
study  of  the  sciences. 
11 


122  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"  The  experience  of  the  military  schools  at  Metz  and  Saint-Cyr 
in  France  has  long  since  shown  that  the  pupils  who  have  been  so 
fortunate  as  to  combine  advanced  literary  acquirements  with  the 
study  of  the  sciences  are  nearly  always  those  who  attain  most  dis- 
tinction in  after-life. 

"  The  result  of  the  criticism  and  discussion  to  which  the  old  sys- 
tem gave  rise  is  cmlHxlied  in  the  new  system,  which  makes  the  trade 
schools  (Gewerbe  Schu/.en)  a  continuation  of  the  primary  schools,  to 
prepare  pupils  for  the  schools  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  ordi- 
nary industry.  By  the  side  of  the  literary  gymnasia  for  classical 
studies,  there  are  now  practical  gymnasia  (Real  Gymnasien),  which 
impart  a  literary  and  scientific  instruction  sufficient  for  pupils  who 
intend  to  enter  the  polytechnic  institutes.  This  svstem  is  almost 
identical  with  that  adopted  in  France  in  1852,  chiefly  with  a  view  to 
the  literary  instruction  of  youth  destined  for -the  public  services, 
with  this  fundamental  and  advantageous  difference,  however,  that,  in 
Bavaria,  the  two  kinds  of  establishments  are  separated  instead  of 
being  united. 

"  Under  the  present  system,  the  establishments  for  technical  edu- 
cation are  divided  into,  — 

"1.  Industrial  or  trade  schools  (Gewerbe  Schulen),  to  which,  ac- 
cording to  local  requirements,  may  be  annexed  special  divisions  for 
commerce,  agriculture,  &c. 

"2.  Practical  gymnasia. 

"3.  A  polytechnic  school,  comprising  four  special  divisions, — 
for  constructions,  technical  mechanics,  technical  chemistry,  and 
commerce." 

Mr.  Samuelson  says,  in  the  letter  quoted  from  in  the 
last  chapter :  — 


IMPORTANCE  OF  VARIED  EDUCATION.       123 

"I  was  told  by  several  competent  observers,  that,  although  the 
Real  Schule  or  the  Gewerbe  Schule  may  be  a  more  preferable  introduc- 
tion to  the  factory  and  the  merchant's  office  than  the  gymna'sium 
(and  even  this  is  denied  by  some),  the  superior  mental  training  of 
the  gymnasium  far  more  than  compensates  for  the  greater  amount 
of  '  knowledge  '  supposed  to  be  acquired  in  the  former  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  polytechnic  school ;  and  this  applies  even  in  a  greater 
degree  to  the  Geiverbe  Schule,  in  which  the  technical  instruction  is 
more  special,  than  to  the  Real  Schule,  where  it  is  more  general. 
However  this  may  be,  and  it  affords  matter  for  reflection,  in  the  or- 
ganization of  our  own  public  schools,  it  is  certain  that  the  neglect 
of  literary  instruction  in  the  Gewerbe  Schulen,  as  now  organized, 
tends  to  deprive  their  pupils  of  the  breadth  of  cultivation  which  is 
the  distinctive  characteristic  of  the  Germans." 

The  Ecole  Centrale  des  Arts  et  Manufactures, 
France,  is  probably  the  most  celebrated  school  of  the 
applied  sciences  in  the  world.  From  the  two  thousand 
young  men  who  have  left  this  school  have  come  many 
of  the  most  distinguished  manufacturers  and  engineers. 
In  their  first  prospectus  the  founders  of  this  school  said, 
"  All  the  subjects  really  form  only  one  and  the  same 
course  :  industrial  science  is  one.  Every  one  engaged  in 
any  branch  should  possess  it  in  its  entirety,  under  pain 
of  inferiority  to  the  competitor  who  is  better  armed  in 
the  struggle  than  himself.7' 

MANUAL    LABOR. 

The   following   extract   is  from  the  evidence  of   M. 


124  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

Margucrin,   director  of  the  Turgot  Municipal    School, 
Paris,  taken  by  the  French  Imperial  Commission  :  — 

"  M.  Marguerin  is  not  of  opinion  that  the  introduction  of  man- 
ual labor  into  technical  schools  would  be  productive  of  any  practical 
benefit.  He  considers  that  one  of  the  great  advantages  of  the  sys- 
tem of  education  established  at  the  Turgot  and  other  schools  of  the 
same  description  is,  that  the  pupil  has  completed  all  his  more  impor- 
tant studies  before  he  is  too  old  to  enter  upon  his  apprenticeship. 
In  order  that  the  pupil  might  undergo  a  course  of  manual  labor  at 
school,  he  would  be  compelled  to  sacrifice  some  of  the  more  impor- 
tant branches  of  general  education,  which  the  teacher  finds  to  be  so 
useful  in  the  training  of  his  pupils.  It  is  a  common  argument  to 
refer  to  the  professional  school  at  Mulhouse  ;  but  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  manual  labor  at  that  school  is  confined  to  two  hours 
of  joiners'  work  in  the  week,  and  that  this  labor  is  considered  more 
as  an  athletic  exercise  than  as  a  preparation  for  apprenticeship ; 
also  that  the  mechanical  workshop,  the  chemical  laboratory,  the 
school  of  design,  and  the  weaving  workshop,  which  form  a  part  of 
the  Mulhouse  school,  only  take  in  pupils  after  they  have  received 
several  years  of  general  instruction.  .  .  . 

"  In  summing  up  what  he  has  to  say  upon  the  subject,  M.  Mar- 
guerin repeats  his  objections  to  the  introduction  of  manual  labor 
into  schools.  In  the  first  place,  he  believes  that  the  expense  of  pro- 
viding teachers  and  tools  for  instruction  in  so  many  branches  of 
trade  and  manufacture  would  form  a  serious  consideration ;  secondly, 
that  the  schools  are  not  likely  to  reap  any  profit  from  the  sale  of 
the  manufactured  article,  as  it  can  scarcely  be  supposed  that  in  this 
they  can  compete  with  well-trained  and  skilled  artisans." 


IMPORTANCE  OF   VAKIED   EDUCATION.       125 

M.  Pompee,  founder  and  proprietor  of  the  professional 
school  at  Ivry,  is  reported  as  saying  in  his  evidence 
before  the  French  Imperial  Commission :  — 

"  For  instruction  in  manual  labor  time  is  wanting  :  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  select  from  the  subjects  now  taught  any  one  which  could  be 
sacrificed  to  it.  If,  indeed,  time  could  be  found  without  injuring  the 
training  in  elementary  schools,  what  kind  of  manual  labor  should 
be  chosen  ?  Should  it  be  the  plane,  the  file,  the  chisel,  or  the  shut- 
tle ?  And  where  would  be  room  for  the  bench,  the  lathe,  the  anvil, 
or  the  loom  1  Where  can  be  found  a  master  capable  of  teaching 
the  use  of  these  tools,  and  of  many  others  ?  It  is  true,  in  case  of 
necessity,  the  use  of  the  spade  and  the  rake  might  be  introduced  into 
rural  schools ;  but  at  that  age  it  could  serve  rather  as  an  athletic 
exercise  than  as  a  profitable  training.  It  would  be  far  better  to 
devote  the  time  to  the  acquirement  of  the  elements  of  natural  science, 
chemistry,  or  mechanics,  which,  as  agriculturists,  the  children  could 
apply  in  after-life.  Of  course,  the  use  of  the  needle  should  not  be 
neglected  in  girls'  schools,  because,  whatever  their  position,  all 
women  should  become  seamstresses  for  their  own  families.  Another 
strong  objection  to  the  introduction  of  manual  labor  into  schools 
would  be  its  great  cost;  the  necessary  enlargement  of  the  school, 
the  tools  and  machines  (to  be  renewed  with  every  improvement),  the 
raw  material  (for  which,  when  unskilfully  manufactured,  there  would 
be  no  sale),  wou'd  be  sources  of  enormous  expense.  In  one  w->rd, 
M.  I'ompce  sums  up,  manual  labor  out  of  the  workshop  is  nothing 
but  a  pastime." 

In  the  examination  of  Messrs.  Gaumont  and  Guemied, 
editors  of  "  The  Journal  of  Professional  Education/7  by 
the  French  Imperial  Commission,  they  said :  — 
11* 


126  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"  It  is  often  objected,  that,  by  reason  of  the  great  varieties  of  opera- 
tions in  manual  labor,  it  would  be  hopeless  to  find  an  individual  en- 
dowed with  an  aptitude  or  sufficient  flexibility  of  the  organs  to  learn 
them  all.  But,  according  to  the  ideas  of  M.  Gaumont  and  the  gentle- 
men who  think  with  him,  the  processes  of  all  manufacturing  industries 
can  be  reduced  to  a  certain  small  number  of  identical  manual  opera- 
tions. Thus  the  processes  and  tools  employed  in  working  in  metals 
have  many  analogies  with  those  used  in  working  in  wood  :  for 
example,  whether  a  workman  turns  in  metal  or  in  wood  ;  whether 
he  turns  by  the  aid  of  the  bow,  of  the  foot,  or  of  a  machine  moved 
by  steam-power,  —  the  operation  reduces  itself  to  nearly  the  same 
method  of  manipulation.  So  in  fitting,  it  always  depends  on  a 
correct  eye  and  manual  skill ;  and  the  individual  who  can  fit  a  piece 
of  iron  by  means  of  the  file  will  soon  fit  a  piece  of  wood  with  the 
aid  of  plane  and  chisel.  Thus  both  in  technical  and  apprentice 
schools  can  be  taught  the  fundamental  manual  operations  which  are 
employed  in  all  manufactures.  Turning  and  fitting  would  form  the 
practical  portion  of  the  instruction,  geometry  and  linear  drawing 
the  theoretical  part,  and  the  elements  of  general  technology  the 
higher  and  finishing  part. 

"If  we  consider  manual  labor  merely  as  a  means  of  instruction, 
it  will  still  find  a  place  in  the  technical  school.  A  knowledge  of 
manipulation  is  required  in  the  chemical  art :  why  should  it  be  other- 
wise in  a  knowledge  of  the  construction  of  machines  and  buildings? 
It  is  only  possible  to  teach  by  four  methods  :  1st,  Oral  explanation 
given  by  the  teacher ;  2d,  Written  explanation  taken  from  books; 
3d,  Graphic  explanation  rendered  by  drawing ;  and,  4th,  Practical 
explanation  obtained  from  execution.  Up  to  the  present  time,  only 
the  first  three  methods  of  demonstration  have  been  employed,  and 
nothing  but  theorists  produced  :  the  moment  that  it  is  desired  to 


IMPORTANCE  OF   VAEIED   EDUCATION.       127 

train  practical  men,  the  fourth  method  will  be  added,  and  technical 
instruction  will  have  been  founded.  Every  technical  school  must 
admit  into  its  course  the  manual  labor  of  the  workshop  and  of  the 
laboratory:  that  is  its  distinctive  characteristic,  the  cause  of  its 
existence.  This  principle  admitted  on  general  grounds,  it  becomes 
still  more  incontestable  when  applied  to  special  industries.  Machine 
manufacture,  building,  dyeing,  weaving,  &c.,  require  not  only  a 
knowledge  of  applied  science,  but  also  a  practical  acquaintance  with 
manual  operations.  Thus,  by  the  side  of  industrial  schools  with 
general  programmes,  there  must  exist  special  schools  for  particular 
trades,  established,  like  the  first,  to  train  managers  and  foremen ;  then, 
for  a  lower  class,  apprentice  schools,  and  public  courses  of  lectures 
for  workmen,  whether  apprentices  or  adults." 

The  French  Commission  report  M.  Maignen,  director 
of  a  Mission  for  the  Succor  of  Apprentices,  as  say- 
ing:— 

"  With  regard  to  school  workshops,  M.  Maignen  does  not  think 
that  they  are  productive  of  bench' t.  An  apprentice  can  only  become 
a  good  workman  by  seeing  others  at  work,  and  by  learning  the  large 
processes  of  manufacture.  It  is  in  the  motion  and  life  of  a  large 
undertaking  that  the  intelligence  and  ability  of  a  young  man  de- 
velops itself,  that  he  comprehends  the  value  of  a  particular  mate- 
rial, that  he  learns  the  manner  in  which,  and  the  conditions  under 
which,  it  can  be  best  worked.  On  the  contrary,  the  young  man  in  a 
small  school  workshop  is  at  no  pains  to  be  industrious,  and  never 
acquires  any  great  degree  of  skill." 

M.  Bernat,  Director  of  the  School  of  Industrial  Arts 


128         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

and  Mines  at  Lille,  testifies  before  the  same  Commis- 
sion :  — 

"  The  training  given  in  the  workshops  is  intended  to  accustom 
the  pupils  to  the  working  of  machines  and  looms,  to  give  them 
manual  skill,  a  practical  acquaintance  with  the  processes  of  execu- 
tion, a  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  which  the  raw  material  opposes  to 
mechanical  action,  and,  finally,  to  fit  them  specially  for  undertaking 
the  charge  of  workshops  and  the  direction  of  workmen.  By  this 
means,  the  works  executed  excite  their  emulation,  and  the  action  of 
the  machines  becomes  familiar  to  them ;  the  whole  forming  a  techni- 
cal and  experimental  system  of  instruction  which  could  be  replaced 
by  no  other." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  French  Commission,  M. 
Hossat,  Doctor  of  Science,  head  master  at  Charleville,  is 
reported  thus :  — 

"  Altogether,  M.  Rossat  has  observed  that  the  practical  are  in  no 
way  injurious  to  the  theoretical  studies :  on  the  contrary,  in  the 
subjects  descriptive  geometry  and  industrial  drawing,  manual  labor 
seems  to  stimulate  the  pupils.  Practical  work  in  the  shops  and  labo- 
ratory occupies  two  hours  a  day ;  and  yet  the  pupils  beg  that  that 
time  may  be  extended.  Already  many  of  them  possess  great  skill. 
The  shops  and  all  the  works  are  under  the  direction  of  a  civil  engi- 
neer ;  and  under  him  are  three  foremen,  —  one  in  the  fitting,  another 
in  the  smith's,  and  the  third  in  the  carpenter's  shop.  The  proceeds 
of  the  labor  of  the  pupils,  if  any,  goes  towards  the  maintenance  of 
the  workshops.  In  the  fitting-shop,  the  most  skilful  pupils  are  at 
present  occupied  in  putting  together  a  steam-engine  to  replace  the 


IMPORTANCE  OF  VARIED  EDUCATION.       129 

portable  engine  which  now  drives  the  machinery  :  others  are  mak- 
ing models  and  parts  of  machines  to  be  placed  in  the  machinery 
collection  of  the  museum.  The  carpenters,  of  whom  there  are  about 
thirty,  learn  the  use  of  the  saw,  the  plane,  and  the  lathe  :  they  make 
patterns  for  the  iron  casters,  joiners'  work,  and  carpenters*  work, 
and  models  for  solid  geometry.  There  are  fifty  smiths  engaged  at 
the  forge  in  the  repair  of  tools,  &c. ;  and  in  the  same  shop  there  are 
employed  a  few  pupils  who  are  intended  for  the  veterinary  schools. 
Lastly,  under  the  direction  of  the  head  master  himself,  the  remain- 
ing pupils  are  occupied  with  manipulations  in  the  laboratory." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  French  Commission,  M. 
Malet,  Professor  at  the  Imperial  Artillery  School  at 
Douai,  says :  — 

"Attached  to  the  classes  are  two  apprentice-workshops,  —  one  for 
working  in  wood,  the  other  for  working  in  iron,  each  in  charge  of 
a  director,  who  is  engaged  to  give  in  it  practical  instruction  in 
manual  labor.  These  workshops  are  situated  in  an  annex  of  the 
town  hall,  which  contains  the  normal  school,  and  the  upper  pri- 
mary school.  The  practice  includes,  in  the  one  shop,  working  at 
the  forge,  fitting,  and  turning  in  metals ;  in  the  other,  joining,  car- 
pentry, upholstery,  and  turning  in  wood.  It  is  expected,  that,  in 
time,  these  shops  will  be  capable  of  turning  out  work  which  can  be 
sold,  and  become  a  source  of  profit  to  the  institution.  The  number 
of  pupils  is  nearly  fifty,  about  equally  divided  between  the  shops. 
Work  is  carried  on  every  day,  except  Thursday  and  Sunday  :  it 
begins  at  half-past  five,  and.  concludes  at  half-past  eight,  in  the 
morning." 

In  their  account  of  the  Central  Imperial  School  of 


130  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

Arts  and  Manufactures,  the  French  Commission  say  :  — 

"It  has  been  said  that  the  pupils  of  the  school  ought  to  devote 
a  part  of  their  time,  like  those  of  the  schools  of  arts  and  trades,  to 
manual  operations  ;  that  they  would  then  become  far  more  capable 
of  managing  workshops.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  intellectual 
and  manual  labor  can  be  combined  without  inconvenience.  Ex- 
perience has  proved  that  they  injure  each  other.  It  is  not  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  be  able  to  perform  every  manual  operation  one's 
self  in  order  to  see  that  artisans  do  their  work  properly ;  and  it  has 
often  been  found  that  he  who  pays  excessive  attention  to  details 
neglects  the  general  effect.  Should  it,  however,  be  deemed  necessary 
to  initiate  a  young  man  in  the  operations  of  the  workman,  let  him, 
on  leaving  the  school,  pass  a  year  or  two  in  a  good  workshop,  exe- 
cuting all  kinds  of  work ;  and  he  will  thus  learn  far  better  than  by 
practising  at  school." 

In  their  report  giving  the  conclusions  at  which  they 
had  arrived  from  the  evidence  taken,  the  French  Com- 
mission say :  — 

"In  general,  the  reproach  brought  against  every  school- work- 
shop is,  that  it  does  not  realize  the  necessary  industrial  advantages; 
and  especially  that  it  does  not  accustom  the  pupils  to  that  rapidity 
of  execution  which  is  one  of  the  principal  conditions  of  economical 
production.  These  objections  are  serious  ones ;  and  most  of  the 
examples  on  which  they  are  founded  do  but  too  well  justify  them." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SPECIAL     SCHOOLS    FOR     THE    INSTRUCTION    OF 
APPRENTICES. 

WITH  the  decay  of  apprenticeship,  numerous  special 
schools  for  the  instruction  of  apprentices  have  been  es- 
tablished in  Europe.  These  schools  are  supported  in 
part  by  local,  and  in  part  by  State  contributions.  The 
service  they  have  rendered  to  industry  cannot  be  lightly 
estimated. 

Such  schools  can  have  no  uniform  organization,  since 
they  must  be  adapted  to  the  industrial  wants  of  each 
locality.  One  will  be  a  school  for  weaving,  another  for 
lace-making,  another  for  dyeing,  another  for  watch- 
making, another  for  jewellers,  another  for  machinists, 
another  for  carpenters,  another  for  ship-builders,  and 
so  through  the  catalogue  of  industries.  Of  course, 
those  things  which  are  common  to  different  industries 
can  be  taught  in  the  same  school. 

Labor  performed  under  the  direction  of  experienced 
workmen  occupies  a  good  part  of  the  time  :  the  re- 

131 


132  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

xnainder  is  given  to  those  studies  which  have  an  imme- 
diate bearing  upon  the  industry  taught.  It  is  draw- 
ing, that,  in  nearly  all  of  these  schools,  holds  the  lead- 
ing place.  When  the  early  education  has  been  sadly 
neglected,  general  instruction  is  sometimes  given.  Not 
only  can  the  apprentice  be  taught  more  quickly  and 
much  better  in  one  of  these  schools  than  he  can  be 
taught  in  the  workshop,  under  the  present  system  of 
labor,  but  he  can  be  taught  much  more  cheaply.  As 
a  general  rule,  a  "green  hand"  is  not  regarded  as  a 
valuable  acquisition  to  any  industrial  establishment. 
Even  for  such  simple  work  as  weaving  cotton  cloth,  there 
is  a  perpetual  contest  among  the  cotton  manufacturers  of 
New  England  to  secure  operatives  of  experience.  In- 
deed, some  mills  refuse  to  employ  a  "  green  hand " 
under  any  circumstances,  considering  it  cheaper,  as  well 
as  much  less  vexatious,  to  employ  those  only  who  have 
have  had  experience,  though  obliged  to  pay  them 
more  for  the  same  yards  woven.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  is  quite  time  apprentice-schools  were  estab- 
lished at  all  the  manufacturing  centres  of  the  country, 
in  imitation  of  those  in  Europe. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  reports  of 
the  British  artisans  sent  to  the  World's  Exhibition  at 
Paris.  Some  of  these  artisans  visited  other  parts  of 
France.  John  Gregory  and  James  Stringer,  watch- 
makers, thus  describe :  — 


SPECIAL  SCHOOLS  FOB  APPRENTICES.       133 

MUNICIPAL   SCHOOL   OF   THEORETICAL   AND   PRACTICAL   WATCH- 
MANUFACTURE    AT    BBSANQON, 

"  This  school  is  founded  to  secure  the  professional  education 
of  young  people  who  intend  devoting  themselves  to  the  art  of  watch- 
making. The  city  of  Besancon  is  the  principal  seat  of  the  manu- 
facture of  watches  in  France.  The  manufacturers  of  this  city, 
almost  exclusively  supply  the  French  market,  as,  of  378,498  watches 
sold  in  France  in  1865,  Besan9on  supplied  296,012,  or  nearly  four- 
fifths  of  the  whole  number. 

"  The  school  has  for  its  object  thoroughly  to  teach  children 
the  trade  they  intend  to  follow ;  to  supply,  in  fact,  the  notorious 
deficiencies  of  an  actual  apprenticeship :  and,  if  the  apprentices  at 
the  present  time  are  so  ignorant  of  the  practical  part  of  their  trade, 
they  are  much  more  so  of  the  theoretical  part.  The  object  this 
school  is  now  carrying  out  on  a  large  scale  is  to  offer  to  young 
watchmakers  an  opportunity  of  constant  comparison  of  the  theory 
of  watchmaking  with  the  results  at  which  they  arrive  practically. 

"  The  regular  time  for  this  practical  and  theoretical  course  is  three 
years  ;  but  it  is  desirable  that  the  students  whose  aptitude  and  con- 
duct is  reported  favorably  of  should  prolong  their  stay  at  the 
school,  in  order  to  perfect  themselves.  The  classes  are  held  in  a 
large  building  belonging  to  the  city,  the  situation  of  which  is  all 
that  could  be  desired.  The  classes  are  under  the  management  of 
a  director,  who  carefully  sees  that  each  branch  of  study  is  dili- 
gently followed  out.  The  teaching  is  divided  in  the  following 
manner :  — 

First  Year.  —  ( Third  Division.) 

"Practical  Teaching.  —  Filing,  turning,  hardening,  and  temper- 
ing metal,  perfecting  small  tools  for  doing  first  halves  of  the  ordi- 
nary sizes. 

12 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 


"  TJicoretical  Teaching.  —  Revision  of  early  education,  arithmetic, 
mensuration,  geography,  mechanical  drawing,  general  principles, 
making  the  more  simple  tools  and  machines  employed  in  watch- 
making. 

Second  Year.  —  (Second  Division.) 

"  Practical  Teaching.  —  Doing  first  halves  of  various  sizes,  piv- 
oting, and  making  the  different  parts  of  a  cylinder  escapement. 

"  Theoretical  Teaching.  —  Studying  style,  geography,  arithmetic, 
elementary  geometry  and  its  application,  mechanical  drawing,  geo- 
metrical models,  models  of  tools  and  machines  used  in  watchmak- 
ing, designs  of  the  different  parts  of  a  watch. 

Third  Year.  —  (  First  Division.  ) 

"Practical  Teaching.  —  Constructing  and  planting  the  escape- 
ment, examining,  regulating. 

"  Theoretical  Teaching.  —  Course  of  mechanics,  ideas  of  indus- 
trial chemistry,  cosmography,  commercial  book-keeping  and  general 
geography,  mechanical  drawing,  study  of  various  cut-wheels,  models 
of  escapements.,  and  designing  watch-movements  for  the  model. 

"  The  theoretical  lectures  are  given  in  each  division  every  day, 
from  seven  to  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Thursday  excepted. 

"  The  work-hours  are  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  noon, 
and  from  half-past  one  till  five. 

"  Drawing-lessons  are  given  in  each  division  on  Mondays,  Tues- 
days, and  Fridays,  from  five  till  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

"  The  course  of  commercial  book-keeping  and  general  geography 
for  the  first  division  is  held  every  Wednesday,  from  five  to  seven 
in  the  evening. 

"  On  Saturday,  the  director  examines  the  pupils  in  the  work 
of  the  week,  so  as  to  note  step  by  step  the  progress  made.  In 


SPECIAL  SCHOOLS  FOK  APPRENTICES.        135 

tion  to  the  instruction  given  in  the  school,  the  pupils  are  taken 
from  time  to  time  to  the  different  manufactories  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, so  that  they  may  become  familiarized  with  the  various  combi- 
nations and  applications  of  machinery;  and  also  to  different  work- 
shops where  the  several  parts  of  a  watch  are  made.  The  knowl- 
edge which  they  thus  acquire  of  the  methods  used  in  the  actual 
process  of  manufacture,  and  which  can  only  be  gained  in  the  work- 
shops themselves,  completes  the  education  indispensable  to  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  watchmaking. 

"  The  school  is  visited  each  week  by  two  members  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  composed  of  the  most  skilled  men  in  the  trade,  who 
take  note  of  the  quality  of  the  work  done,  as  well  as  of  the  progress 
of  the  pupils.  At  the  expiration  of  each  scholastic  year,  the  pupils 
are  subjected  to  a  general  examination,  at  the  end  of  which  prizes 
are  awarded  to  the  most  deserving  pupils.  The  distribution  of 
these  prizes  takes  place  in  public,  under  the  direction  of  the  mayor. 

"  This  distribution  is  preceded  and  followed  by  a  public  exhibition 
of  the  productions  of  the  manual  labor  of  the  students,  and  the 
designs  executed  by  them,  during  the  year.  The  vacation  begins 
on  the  first  of  September,  and  continues  during  that  month. 

"  The  conditions  of  admission  into  the  school  are  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  school  for  watchmaking  receives  any  young  people,  with- 
out distinction  as  to  country  or  nationality.  To  be  received  into 
the  school,  the  pupils  must  be  able  to  read  and  write  fluently,  and 
know  the  four  rules  of  arithmetic.  They  are  examined  before  a 
special  jury  before  being  admitted." 

The  French  Imperial  Commission,  which  is  more 
fully  described  in  the  second  chapter,  speak  thus  of 
apprentice-schools  in  Belgium :  — 


136         '  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

APPRENTICE!   SCHOOLS   IN  BELGIUM. 

"Belgium  offers  in  Western  Flanders,  by  her  communal  schools 
for  apprentice-weavers  (€coles  communales  d'<tpprentiss<tgp),  a  remarka- 
ble example  of  the  results  that  may  be  obtained  in  such  insti- 
tutions. These  schools,  in  which  primary  and  religious  instruction 
is  united  with  manual  labor,  are  intended  for  the  children  of  poor 
parents,  and  are  adapted  to  the  industry  of  the  neighborhood; 
namely,  weaving.  The  communes,  aided  by  the  State,  have  pro- 
vided a  building  with  looms  ;  and,  under  the  direction  of  a  paid  over- 
seer, these  school-shops  work  up  raw  material  furnished  by  manu- 
facturers of  the  neighborhood.  The  apprentices  receive  small 
wages,  which  increase  with  their  capacity,  until  they  know  their  trade 
well  enough  to  be  admitted  into  the  factories,  where  they  can  rarn 
a  living.  From  fifty-five  to  sixty  apprentice-schools  of  this  kind 
are  distributed  over  as  many  communes,  and  receive  from  thirteen 
thousand  to  fourteen  thousand  pupils.  The  official  reports  pub- 
lished at  Bruges  in  1863  show  that  everywhere  instruction  and 
habits  of  regular  employment  have  produced  the  most  successful 
results  in  improving  the  morals  not  only  of  the  children,  but  also 
of  the  parents,  and  that  mendicity  and  vagrancy  have  almost 
entirely  disappeared  from  those  districts. 

"  When  the  first  attempts  were  made  to  organize  apprentice- 
schools  for  the  different  sorts  of  manufactures,  the  exclusive  and 
almost  absolute  direction  was  confided  to  masters  who  had  an  in- 
terest in  them.  It  was,  however,  soon  discovered  that  the  authority 
charged  with  watching  over  the  execution  of  the  indentures  on 
behalf  of  the  children  had  not  sufficient  powers:  consequently  the 
majority  of  the  institutions  of  that  kind  were  allowed  to  die  out ; 
and  in  their  place  were  substituted  communal  workshops,  'created 
exclusively  for  the  professional  instruction  of  the  working-classes 


SPECIAL  SCHOOLS  FOR  APPRENTICES.        137 

and  in  the  general  interest  of  trade ;   the  committees  of  which 
endeavor  to  vary  the  instruction  of  the  pupil  as  far  as  possible. 

"  '  The  pupils  of  those  workshops  are  usually  compelled  to  attend 
school  for  two  hours ;  and,  while  the  apprentice  thus  derives  a  rest 
by  this  cessation  from  labor,  he  at  the  same  time  acquires  knowl- 
edge admitting  of  a  general  application.  Experience  has  proved 
that  the  introduction  of  literary  and  moral  instruction  is  effected 
with  the  greatest  facility  in  those  communal  workshops  in  which  it 
was  not  practised,  and  that  it  produces  an  excellent  effect  on  the 
character  and  morals  of  the  young  workmen. 

"  '  It  has  even  been  found  that  with  the  space  of  time  devoted  daily 
to  instruction  in  reading,  writing,  the  rudiments  of  arithmetic,  &c., 
the  pupils  who  attend  the  workshops  learn  almost  as  rapidly  as 
those  who  are  obliged  to  remain  all  the  day  at  school,' 

"  This  remark  agrees  with  the  observations  made  in  England  on 
the  half-time  schools.  The  object  of  these  workshops  not  being 
merely  to  show  the  child  a  loom  which  is  to  enable  him  to  gain, 
a  livelihood,  but  also  to  contribute  to  his  intellectual  and  industrial 
progress,  '  it  is  sought  to  instruct  the  pupils  not  only  in  weaving, 
properly  so  called,  but  also  in  the  preparation  of  the  warp,  in  ar- 
ranging the  loom  for  the  execution  of  different  patterns,  in  decipher- 
ing designs,  and,  in  short,  every  thing  belonging  to  the  weaver's  art.' 

"In  1863,  out  of  fifty-four  apprentice- workshops  established,  in 
forty  primary  instruction  was  being  given  to  the  extent  desired ; 
and  in  fourteen  only  was  it  not  completely  organized.  Accord- 
ing to  the  official  returns,  the  organization  of  those  special  appren- 
tice-workshops, which  only  date  from  1851,  are  at  present  fifty -four 
in  number,  comprising  :  — 

Looms 1,285 

Apprentice  Pupils 1,652 

12* 


138  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"The  number  of  workmen  they  have  trained  during  a  period 
of  twelve  years  amounts  to  13,481,  the  greater  part  rescued  from 
want,  mendicity,  and  all  the  vices  they  engender. 

"Let  us  add  in  conclusion,  as  is  remarked  by  the  author  of  the 
report,  M.  Renier,  inspector  of  the  apprentice-workshops,  that  a 
number  of  young  apprentices  who  had  never  entered  a  school 
have  left  the  workshops  with  a  fair  knowledge  of  reading  and  writ- 
ing; and  that  this  important  result  has  been  obtained  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  communes  which  contain  a  workshop.  It  evidently 
results,  from  this  observation,  that  the  workshop,  far  from  taking 
boys  from  the  schools,  is,  with  the  aid  of  a  good  organization,  a 
powerful  means  of  extending  the  benefits  of  instruction,  and  of 
counteracting  the  selfish  and  short-sighted  conduct  of  parents,  who, 
without  concerning  themselves  for  the  future,  only  think  of  the 
trifling  salary  to  be  earned  promptly  by  an  ignorant  workman." 

The  French  Imperial  Commission  thus  speak  of  the 
power-loom  weaving-school  at  Mulhouse:  — 

POWER-LOOM-WEAVING-SCIIOOL    AT    MULHOUSE. 

"The  apprentice-workshops  are  not  only  of  use  in  forming 
simple  workmen :  they  may  also  constitute  a  sort  of  technical  and 
special  schools  for  preparing  educated  youths  for  the  direction  of 
manufactories.  With  this  view,  some  manufacturers  of  Mulliouse, 
convinced  of  the  utility  of  a  complete  instruction  in  the  principles 
which  should  guide  the  manufacturer  of  the  great  variety  of  stuffs 
now  produced,  and  enlightened  by  the  example  of  Germany,  raised 
by  subscription,  in  1861,  a  fund  of  thirty-seven  thousand  francs 
destined  to  found,  as  an  experiment,  a  school  of  weaving  with 
power-loom.  This  school,  which  is  placed  under  the  direction  of 
M.  E.  Fri6s,  admits  thirty  or  forty  out-door  pupils,  who  pay  a 


SPECIAL  SCHOOLS   FOR   APPRENTICES.        139 


certain  sum  yearly,  and  receive  a  theoretical  and  practical  instruc- 
tion in  the  process  of  weaving,  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  super- 
intend manufactories. 

"  To  show  in  what  degree  such  institutions  meet  the  require- 
ments of  trade,  it  will  not  be  without  interest  to  exhibit  the  pro- 
gressive results  of  the  administration  of  that  school  during  the  first 
three  years  of  its  existence  :  — 

Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  the  School  of  Weaving  at  Mulhouse 
from  Nov.  1,  1861,  to  Nov.  1,  1864. 


Receipts  of  the 

School. 

Frs.    C. 
6,178  10 

Expenses  of  the  School. 

Capital  raised  in  1861,  by 
subscription,  among  the 
principal    manafectnren 

iiiid  merchants  nt'tho  De- 
partments  of  the  Haat- 
Kliiu  and  Vosgcs,  37,000 
francs. 

From  Nov.  1,  ) 
1801,  to  Nov.  > 
1,  1862,  > 

From  Nov.  1,1 
1861,  to  Nov.  | 
1,   1862,  cur-  > 
rent    expen-  | 
ses,                  J 
Fitting    up) 
schoolrooms,  } 
Purchase     of  j 
machinery,    \ 

Tolal   expen-  ) 
diture,  1861-  > 
1862,                 ) 

Frs.  C. 
14,000  80 

4,600  00 
3,010  00 

Year      1861-1 
1862.  Drawn  1 
from    thef 
capital,         J 

Frs.  C. 
15,432  70 

21,610  80 

From  Nov.  1,  ) 
1802,  to  Nov.  > 
1,  18G3.  ) 

12,540  50 

From  Nov.  1,1 
1862.  to  Nov. 
1,   1803.  cur-  }• 
rent    expen-  j 
ses,                 J 
Purchase     ofi 
a    steam-en-  > 
gine,               ) 

Total   expen-  ) 
ses  in   1862-  > 
1803,                > 

12,721  05 
13,126  00 

Year      1862-1 
1803.  Drawn  1 
from     thef 
capital,         J 

13,306  55 
3,879  70 

25,847  05 

From  Nov.  1,  ) 
1863,  to  Nov.  > 
1,  1864,  ) 

16,205  45 

From  Nov.  1,1 
1863.  to  Nov. 
1,    1864,  cur-  }> 
rent    expen-  | 

80S,                          J 

12,325  75 

Yrar      1863-1 
1864;  excess 
of    receipt?  > 
over  expen- 
diture,         j 

140  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"  The  above  table  shows,  that,  after  scarcely  three  years'  existence 
and  experience,  this  school,  in  which  the  number  of  pupils  was  at 
first  only  ten  or  twelve  at  the  most,  has  been  able  to  organize  itself, 
purchase  its  material  and  a  steam-engine ;  and  yet,  having  borrowed 
for  that  purpose  only  28,739  francs  from  the  subscription-fund,  it 
has  obtained  a  net  profit  (its  material  and  all  expenses  being 
paid)  of  3,879  francs  at  the  end  of  the  third  year.  This  result, 
wbich  proves  what  benefit  the  manufacturing  towns  derive  from 
making  a  judicious  outlay  for  the  promotion  of  technical  instruction, 
determined  the  founders  to  give  to  their  school  of  weaving  a  definite 
constitution,  and  to  form,  with  that  object,  a  company  with  a  capital 
of  seventy-six  thousand  francs,  divided  into  seventy-six  shares  of 
a  thousand  francs  each,  which  were  subscribed  for  immediately. 

"  At  present  the  school  is  established  in  a  building  erected  for  the 
purpose  :  it  is  provided  with  a  steam-engine,  with  every  thing  that  is 
necessary  for  transmitting  the  motive-power,  and  twenty-four 
different  looms,  on  which  various  stuffs  may  be  manufactured.  It 
works  not  only  as  a  theoretical  and  practical  school  of  weaving,  but 
also  as  an  ordinary  factory,  so  as  to  cover  by  the  sale  of  its  produc- 
tions a  part  of  the  outlay. 

"Its  financial  position  in  the  month  of  September,  1864,  was  us 

follows  :  — 

Fre.    C. 

Capital,  seventy-six  shares  at  a  thousand  francs  ....  76,000  00 
Funds  disposable  March  1,  1864,  from  the  first  subscription  .  8,260  75 
Surplus  of  receipts  over  expenditure  in  186:3-1864  .  .  .  .  3,87970 

Capital  disposable  on  March  1,  1864 88,14045 

EXPENDITURE. 

March  1, 1864,  purchase  of  ground  and  costs  ....  10,018  00 
Sept.  1,  1864,  building  of  workshops 56,00000 


88,140  45 


SPECIAL  SCHOOLS  FOR  APPRENTICES.        141 

"  The  school  opened  under  these  favorable  conditions  on  the  3d 
of  October,  1864. 

"  The  studies  are  partly  theoretical,  and  partly  practical ;  the  pupils 
passing  alternately  and  regularly  from  the  one  to  the  other.  The 
theoretical  studies  consist  principally  of  the  decomposition  and 
analysis  of  all  kinds  of  stuffs,  especially  those  which  concern  the 
manufactures  of  Alsace.  The  course  is  terminated  by  mechanical 
drawing,  the  study  of  the  internal  arrangements  of  manufactories 
with  plans  and  estimates,  the  calculating  of  the  cost-price  of  manu- 
factures, and  book-keeping.  The  practical  studies  consist  of  the 
working  of  the  looms,  the  fitting-up,  regulating,  adjusting,  preserva- 
tion, and  repair  of  all  the  machinery,  and,  lastly,  the  weaving  itself 
in  all  its  operations  by  the  pupils  themselves,  assisted  by  an  experi- 
enced foreman. 

"  The  charge  of  admission  to  the  theoretical  and  practical 
course  of  studies  is  six  hundred  francs  for  the  scholastic  year 
of  eleven  months ;  but  the  pupil  is  at  liberty  to  attend  only 
one  of  the  two  courses.  Foreigners  are  admitted  as  well  as  French- 
men. 

"  These  studies  are  terminated  by  examinations  before  a  board  of 
manufacturers  and  engineers,  which  delivers  certificates  of  capacity 
to  the  successful  candidates.  At  this  examination  the  pupils  have 
to  submit  to  the  board  a  general  plan  of  the  school,  with  its  steam- 
engine  and  apparatus  for  the  distribution  of  the  motive-power,  and 
with  drawings  of  the  different  machines,  and  the  complete  plan  of  a 
manufactory. 

"  It  will  be  seen  by  the  above  details  that  nothing  is  neglected  in 
the  studies  of  the  pupils ,  so  that  those  who  have  received  certificates 
of  capacity  are  at  once  competent  to  direct  manufactories  of  various 
kinds.  We  must  add,  that  the  manufacturers  who  founded  this  school 


142         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

of  weaving  are  precluded  from  participating  in  the  profits  the  estab- 
lishment may  make,  and  that  they  have  only  a  right  to  the  legal 
interest  on  the  money  they  have  advanced,  and  its  reimbursement  on 
the  breaking  up  of  the  association." 


CHAPTER  V. 

INSTRUCTION    OF    WORKMEN. 

IN  various  ways  it  has  been  attempted,  with  a  greater 
or  less  degree  of  success,  to  improve  the  technical  edu- 
cation of  workmen  after  they  have  become  workmen. 

1.  For  this  purpose  popular  lectures  have  been  found 
serviceable.  They  must,  however,  be  specific,  *  and  not 
general :  they  must  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  employ- 
ment of  the  workmen.  If  the  lectures  deal  with  their 
subjects  in  a  general  way,  they  may  entertain  and  per- 
haps stimulate  somewhat  j  but  they  will  prove  of  little 
advantage  to  the  workmen.  While  imparting  positive 
knowledge,  they  must  not  neglect  the  reason  of  things, 
but  set  the  workmen  to  thinking. 

But  the  workmen  must  have  had  some  elementary 
technical  instruction,  or  they  will  not  be  able  to  compre- 
hend the  lectures ;  for  the  lectures,  to  be  of  the  best, 
cannot  deal  in  glittering  generalities,  but  must  employ 

technical   terms,    and   must   usually   assume    that    the 

143 


144  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

hearers  are  acquainted  with  certain  elementary  data. 
The  workmen  must  also  have  had  some  elementary 
literary  instruction  :  for  it  is  essential  that  they  should 
take  notes  of  the  lectures ;  otherwise  the  knowledge 
imparted  hy  the  lectures  will,  in  the  main,  be  soon 
forgotten. 

These  things  have  been  found  essential  to  the  success 
of  popular  lectures  for  the  technical  instruction  of  work- 
men. 

2.  For  such  instruction,  evening  schools  have  also  been 
found  serviceable.  The  room  in  which  such  schools  are 
held  should  be  well  warmed  and  well  ventilated :  it 
should  be  well  lighted  from  above,  and  in  such  manner 
as  to  prevent  all  cross-lights.  These  are  general  requi- 
sites. The  equipment  of  the  room  must  vary  somewhat 
according  to  the  character  of  the  instruction  given.  As 
drawing  is  usually  the  leadfng  thing  to  be  taught  in 
such  schools,  precedence  must  usually  be  conceded  to 
that  in  the  equipment  of  the  room. 

It  has  been  found  by  experience  that  men  actually 
engaged  in  the  business  in  which  instruction  is  to  be 
given,  as  foremen,  for  example,  and  practical  draughts- 
men, make  excellent  teachers  for  these  evening  schools. 
These  teachers  from  the  workshop  know  just  what  the 
workmen  require  in  the  way  of  practical  application  : 
they  know  the  obstacles  to  be  overcome  in  applying 


INSTRUCTION  OF   WORKMEN.  145 

the  theory,  and  just  how  to  overcome  them.  Usually 
they  cannot  explain  the  theory  so  well  as  the  professional 
teacher;  but  their  intimate  knowledge  of  the  practical 
applications  of  the  theory  enables  them  much  better  to 
satisfy  the  workmen,  who  are  always  impatient  of  along 
drill  in  theory  before  coming  to  direct  applications,  — a 
course  that  can  be  successfully  pursued  in  an  ordinary 
school.  The  very  best  teacher,  however,  for  these 
schools  for  workmen,  is  the  professional  teacher,  who,  to 
his  knowledge  of  the  teacher's  art  and  to  his  knowledge 
of  the  theory  of  the  thing  to  be  taught,  has  added  a 
knowledge  of  the  practical  applications  of  the  theory, 
which  he  may  readily  add  by  investigations  in  the 
workshop.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there  seldom  need 
be  a  lack  of  good  teachers  in  any  place  where  an  even- 
ing technical  school  is  required. 

Workmen  and  apprentices  should  be  taught  together. 
The  latter  not  having  advanced  far  enough  in  their 
business  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  instruction,  they 
are  too  much  inclined  to  neglect  it  when  taught  by  them- 
selves. But  the  example  of  the  men  stimulates  them  to 
study.  As  a  rule,  all  under  the  age  of  fifteen  years 
should  be  excluded  from  these  evening  schools. 

When  the  school  is  small,  there  cannot  well  be  more 
than  one  class ;  and  all  must  attend  to  the  same  study  at 
the  same  time.  When  the  school  is  large,  then  it  can  be 

13 


146  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

divided  into  two  or  more  classes  for  the  pursuit  of  differ- 
ent studies,  or  of  different  parts  of  the  same  study. 

The  teacher  may  give  his  explanations  to  the  class  as 
a  whole,  requiring  all  the  members  to  attend  to  the  same 
thing  at  the  same  time.  Further  assistance  may  then 
be  rendered  to  individual  members  who  failed  to  compre- 
hend the  explanations  when  given  to  the  whole  class. 
This  plan  enables  the  teacher  to  do  the  most  for  the 
whole  class  in  an  allotted  time ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  more  zealous  and  intelligent  members  are  kept  back 
somewhat. 

Or  the  teacher  may  explain  only  general  principles  to 
the  class  as  a  whole  ;  each  member  making  a  different 
application  of  these  principles.  In  the  applications  the 
teacher  can  render  individual  assistance.  This  plan 
does  not  restrain  the  more  zealous  and  intelligent,  nor 
need  it  deprive  the  laggards  of  suitable  instruction,  if 
the  teacher  is  active.  It  also  permits  instruction  to  be 
given  at  the  same  time  in  two  or  three  different  trades, 
•when  they  have  common  foundation  principles,  as  they 
may  have,  for  example,  in  chemistry,  geometry,  drawing. 
Thus  much  of  the  instruction  in  drawing  required  by 
the  carpenter,  machinist,  and  cabinet-maker  must  be 
of  the  same  general  character. 

Or  the  instruction  may  be  all  oral,  illustrated  by  exper- 
iments or  diagrams.  This  has  two  or  three  grave  dis- 


INSTRUCTION  OF   WORKMEN.  147 

advantages.  The  stupid  require  repetition,  and  some- 
times those  who  are  not  stupid  require  it ;  but  frequent- 
ly it  cannot  be  had,  as  in  the  case  of  experiments,  or 
from  lack  of  time.  The  study  of  the  subject  cannot, 
therefore,  be  continued  out  of  school.  Again  :  it  is  often 
essential  that  notes  be  taken ;  but  this  many  workmen 
cannot  do  from  lack  of  elementary  instruction. 

The  conclusion  is,  that  judicious  blending  of  oral  in- 
struction with  use  of  a  text-book  is  much  the  best  thing. 
All  book  is  out  of  the  question.  The  book  should  con- 
tain the  theory,  with  some  practical  applications  ;  but 
most  of  the  latter  must  be  got  outside  of  books,  and 
should  be  selected  with  special  reference  to  the  wants 
of  the  workmen  receiving  instruction.  With  the  book 
before  him,  the  workman  more  readily  understands 
the  teacher;  with  the  explanations  of  the  teacher,  he 
more  readily  understands  the  book,  though  the  teacher 
may  not  always  express  himself  as  clearly  as  the  book. 
The  book  can  also  be  used  out  of  school,  which  is  a  great 
advantage.  If,  however,  the  workman's  elementary 
instruction  has  been  neglected,  he  will  find  himself 
troubled  to  use  even  the  plainest  book  understand ingly. 
Aside  from  text-books,  the  school  should  have  books  for 
general  reference. 

Whatever  general  mode  of  teaching  is  followed,  spee- 
dy  application  of  the  theory  must  be  a  part  of  it,  other- 


148         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

wise  the  workmen  will  lose  their  interest.  Indeed, 
theory  and  practical  application  must  go  together  from 
the  outset  in  the  instruction  of  workmen.  It  is  also  the 
conclusion  of  European  experience,  that  a  small  fee 
should  be  changed  for  the  instruction  in  these  schools. 

3.  Museums  have  also  been  found  exceedingly  service- 
able for  the  technical  education  of  workmen.  Local 
museums  must  conform  to  the  wants  of  the  different 
localities  where  they  are  established.  Thus,  in  its  local 
museum,  the  dominant  industry  of  each  district  should 
be  specially  represented.  If,  for  example,  it  is  the  pro- 
duction of  machinery,  the  workman  should  be  able  to 
find  in  the  museum  illustrations  of  just  what  he  desires 
to  learn  about  the  application  of  power,  and  the  making 
of  machines.  If  it  is  the  production  of  textile  fabrics, 
all  the  best  and  latest  achievements  of  the  loom  should 
be  there  exemplified  for  the  benefit  of  the  local  manu- 
facturer ;  and  so  on.  In  every  museum,  however,  for 
the  culture  in  taste  and  delight  of  all  should  be  gath- 
ered beautiful  objects  illustrating  the  different  depart- 
ments of  art. 

With  well-stored  museums,  easy  of  access  at  all  times, 
the  workman  can  use  his  eyes  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage in  perfecting  his  technical  education.  Through  the 
eye  is  the  readiest  approach  to  the  mind.  Frequently  a 
single  glance  of  the  eye  will  give  the  workman  a  clearer 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  149 

comprehension  of  a  principle  in  mechanics  than  he 
could  obtain  from  a  long  explanatory  discourse,  or  from 
reading  a  book.  Then  it  has  been  well  said  that  "  taste 
is  the  recollection  of  the  beautiful."  Whether  this 
definition  be  true  or  not,  certain  it  is,  that  for  the  culti- 
vation of  the  taste,  which  is  so  valuable  in  nearly  all 
industrial  arts,  there  must  be  beautiful  objects  for  fre- 
quent contemplation  and  study.  This  lacking,  all  other 
instruction  fails  to  impart  correct  taste. 

4.  In  several  European  countries  Sunday  schools  for 
the  technical  instruction  of  workmen  are  numerous,  and 
well  attended. 

POPULAR   LECTURES. 

In  their  report,  the  French  Imperial  Commission, 
more  fully  described  in  the  second  chapter,  speak  thus 
of  popular  lectures  for  the  instruction  of  workmen :  — 

"It  will  be  remembered,  that  in  1819  the  first  industrial  courses 
of  lectures  were  founded  and  organized  in  various  towns  of  France 
by  the  zealous  efforts  of  Baron  Charles  Dupin.  Responding  to  an 
appeal,  in  which  he  eloquently  invoked  the  memory  of  Gaspard 
Monge,  many  pupils  of  the  Polytechnic  School,  chiefly  officers 
of  engineers  and  artillery  in  the  towns  where  they  were  in  garrison, 
engineers  of  the  bridges  and  roads  and  of  mines,  placed  them- 
selves at  the  disposal  of  the  municipal  authorities  to  diffuse  a  knowl- 
edge of  science  among  the  industrial  population  of  every  class.  Of 
all  these  educational  undertakings,  the  best  organized  and  the 

most  successful  was  the  institution  founded  by  the  town  of  Metz, 
13* 


150  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

with  the  aid  of  MM.  Poncelet,  Eergcry,  and  Bardin.  The  first- 
named  of  these  gentlemen,  ardent  in  the  propagation  of  science, 
then  entered  on  the  course  which  he  has  since  followed  with  such 
distinction,  and  which  led  him  to  explain  by  the  aid  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  elementary  geometry  most  of  the  principles  and  delicate 
problems  of  mechanical  science.  To  him  belongs  the  honor  of  hav- 
ing shown  that  it  is  not  so  difficult  as  might  be  supposed  to  popu- 
larize, and  bring  within  the  grasp  of  ordinary  capacities,  the  study 
all  the  propositions  of  industrial  mechanics. 

"  Since  M.  Poncelet,  others,  following  in  his  steps,  have  sought 
to  extend  the  same  mode  of  teaching  in  the  public  lectures  of  the 
Conservatory  of  Arts  and  Trades,  and  in  those  of  the  Polytechnic 
and  Philotechnic  Associations  ;  and  their  efforts  have  been  attended 
with  results  of  immense  value.  The  first-named  of  these  associa- 
tions instituted  in  1830  popular  lectures,  which  were,  from  the  very 
beginning,  exclusively  intrusted  to  ex-pupils  of  the  Polytechnic 
School.  These  lectures  have  since  been  established  in  every  quarter 
of  Paris;  and  in  1860  this  same  association  founded  in  the  amphi- 
theatre of  the  School  of  Medicine  isolated  lectures,  which,  in  their 
turn,  called  public  attention  to  this  particular  mode  of  disseminating 
useful  knowledge  among  the  people. 

"But  it  would  be  wrong  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  public 
lectures,  or  merely  oral  teaching,  even  when  accompanied  by 
experiments  made  with  the  aid  of  good  models  and  of  applications 
to  common  questions,  often  leave  on  the  memory  and  understand- 
ing of  the  auditors  ouly  evanescent  impressions.  This  effect  is  still 
more  certain  when  the  audience,  composed  exclusively  of  appren- 
tices and  workmen,  is  only  prepared  for  the  instruction  given  by  an 
imperfect  elementary  education,  which  has  not  prepared  them  for 
mental  effort,  whilst  their  professional  habits  unceasingly  draw  them 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  151 

towards  practical  and  material  results.  The  consequence  has  been, 
that  notwithstanding  all  the  talent  and  zeal  of  the  professors  of 
public  lectures,  whether  in  Paris  or  in  the  large  towns  of  France, 
this  mode  of  teaching,  in  so  far  as  it  is  specially  devoted  to  working- 
men,  has  not  produced  all  the  results  its  founders  expected,  al- 
though truth  compels  the  acknowledgment  that  it  has  not  been 
altogether  fruitless.  .  . 

"  Though,  for  the  technical  teaching  of  workmen  disposed  to 
devote  part  of  their  leisure  to  studies  which  may  be  useful  to  them, 
it  has  been  thought  proper  to  give  the  preference  to  regular  classes 
over  public  or  simply  oral  lectures,  it  does  not  follow  that  such 
lectures,  or  even  occasional  meetings,  may  not  be  really  useful. 
There  are,  in  fact,  a  great  many  scientific  and  technical  questions 
which  possess  great  interest,  not  only  for  the  workmen  themselves, 
but  also  for  their  masters,  for  young  men,  and,  indeed,  for  a  host  of 
people  who  would  not  submit  to  a  regular  attendance  at  such 
classes  as  those  of  which  the  organization  has  just  been  described, 
and  which  require  punctuality  and  practical  application.  On  the 
other  hand,  certain  special  branches  of  science,  though  very  desirable 
to  be  learned,  do  not  always  admit  of  regular  teaching,  nor  of  any 
considerable  number  of  lessons.  A  person  well  versed  in  the  theory 
and  practice  of  some  particular  art  might  be  disposed  to  give  a  few 
lectures  on  the  subject  he  has  mastered,  but  would  not  choose  to 
give  a  course  limited  to  workmen  only.  Giving  public  lectures  and 
holding  meetings,  in  such  cases,  cannot  be  otherwise  than  beneficial ; 
and  although  they  are  not  so  effective  for  the  technical  instruction 
of  workmen,  properly  so  called,  as  regular  classes  opened  expressly 
for  them,  the  fact  is  none  the  less  certain,  that,  by  diffusing  and 
popularizing  science  and  experience  among  the  public  who  attend 
them,  much  good  will  be  done." 


TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 
EVENING    SCHOOLS. 

Iii  his  evidence  before  the  French  Commission,  the 
Rev.  Father  Baudiue,  assistant  superior  of  the  Chris- 
tian Brothers'  School,  says :  — 

"  The  classes  arc  divided  into  two  divisions,  —  one,  open  from  six 
to  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  for  apprentices  from  thirteen  to  six- 
teen years  old  ;  the  other,  from  eight  to  ten,  for  workmen  of  sixteen, 
and  above.  Ever/  year  the  works  of  the  pupils  are  exhibited  in 
one  of  the  amphitheatres  of  the  Conservatory  of  Arts  and  Trades. 
Each  work  bears  the  name  of  the  pupil,  his  age,  the  time  of  his 
apprenticeship,  and  the  name  and  address  of  his  master.  A  board, 
composed  of  manufacturers  of  good  position,  awards  and  distributes 
the  prizes. 

"  In  different  quarters  of  Paris,  local  committees,  .composed  of 
manufacturers  and  persons  of  good  position,  have  been  formed  to 
visit  the  different  schools  weekly,  and  to  bring  masters  and  ap- 
prentices into  communication." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  same  Commission,  M. 
Bardin,  professor  of  industrial  drawing  to  the  com- 
munal schools  of  the  city  of  Paris,  says :  — 

"  There  does  not  appear  to  be  any  disadvantage  in  causing  both 
workmen  and  apprentices  to  meet  in  the  same  class;  for  apprentices 
rarely  understand  the  utility  of  application,  and  they  are  encour- 
aged by  the  industrious  workmen  who  frequent  the  classes.  .  .  . 

"If  the  workmen  paid,  however  small  the  sum,  they  certainly 
would  be  more  regular  in  their  attendance  at  the  drawing-classes 
than  they  are  now ;  and  the  instruction  would  be  regarded  more 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  153 

earnestly  by  them  :  this  is  a  fact  which  has  been  attested  by  experi- 
ence. This  system  has,  besides,  numerous  precedents.  The  work- 
men in  their  practical  courses  take  upon  themselves  the  expenses 
of  the  premises  and  lighting.  The  private  schools,  receiving  subsidies 
from  the  town,  have  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  who  pay : 
moreover,  a  great  number  of  workmen  who  enter  their  names  for 
the  courses  of  the  communal  schools  come  with  the  intention  of 
paying. 

"  The  only  objection  that  could  be  made  is  In  favor  of  ap- 
prentices, because  they  earn  nothing.  This  is  true  ;  but,  for  those 
whose  families  could  not  afford  these  expenses,  the  masters,  who 
give  a  little  money  every  week  to  the  youths  working  for  them,  as 
a  recompense,  would  willingly  pay  the  monthly  fee  of  the  school 
(which  might  be  as  low  as  possible),  and  would  also  undertake 
to  see  that  the  apprentice  profits  by  the  advantages  offered  to  him." 

Messrs.  Gaumont  and  Guemied,  editors  of  "  The  Jour- 
nal of  Professional  Education/'  said  to  the  French  Com- 
mission: — 

"  All  pupils  attending  public  courses  of  instruction  should  pay 
a  small  fee,  to  give  them  an  interest  in  their  work.  Everywhere 
where  a  good  system  of  public  instruction  is  maintained,  this  plan 
is  adopted.  At  Mulhouse  nothing  is  gratuitous  :  it  is  the  same  in 
all  the  Swiss  cantons.  At  Paris  the  most  frequented  courses  of 
drawing  are  those  at  the  municipal  schools,  where  a  fee  of  from 
two  to  three  francs  is  exacted  monthly.  .  .  . 

"  To  give  special  instruction  to  workmen,  it  is  of  much  or  even 
of  more  importance,  that  the  teacher  should  possess  a  knowledge 
of  the  trade  than  of  pure  science.  It  is  almost  indispensable  to 


154         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

have  lived  the  life  of  the  workshop  in  order  to  be  able  to  elevate 
the  mere  handicraftsman  from  practice  to  theory." 

Ill  their  report,  the  French  Imperial  Commission 
express  themselves  in  this  wise:  — 

"  In  towns  of  moderate  size,  where  the  number  of  pupils,  and 
consequently  of  professors,  will  be  rather  limited,  it  will  generally 
be  found  advisable  to  unite  pupils  of  equal  proficiency  in  one  class  : 
thus  there  will  be  no  other  divisions  to  introduce  but  those  indi- 
cated by  the  degree  of  progress  in  study.  But  the  case  will  be  very 
different  in  large  towns  ;  and,  whenever  the  number  of  pupils  shall 
exceed  forty  or  fifty,  it  will  be  necessary  to  form  several  classes. 
It  will  then  be  advantageous  to  place  workmen  of  the  same  or  .similar 
trades  under  a  common  course  of  instruction,  which  may  be  more 
particularly  adapted  to  their  occupation. 

"  Though  it  is  impossible  to  indicate  in  a  general  report  all  the 
divisions  which  the  requirements  of  local  industries  may  thus  in- 
troduce into  technical  education,  still  there  are  certain  trades  in 
which  many  workmen  are  engaged  whose  co-operation  is  indispen- 
sable to  all  the  others,  and  for  which  it  is  possible  to  indicate  the 
method  in  which  the  work  to  be  executed  by  the  pupils  in  their 
classes  ought  to  be  conducted.  Among  these  industries,  that  of 
building  is  at  once  the  most  general,  and  also  comprises  the  largest 
number  of  different  trades  ;  all  having  recourse  to  the  art  of  draw- 
ing, and  requiring  the  rules  of  geometry,  and  sometimes  even  those 
of  mechanics.  Moreover,  it  may  be  noticed  that  the  labors  of 
these  different  trades  all  contribute  to  one  and  the  same  end,  and 
that  it  is  consequently  desirable  that  the  workmen  who  practice 
them  should  follow  a  similar  course  of  study.  It  will  therefore 
often  be  practicable  to  form  a  special  class  for  all  employed  in  the 


INSTRUCTION  OF   WORKMEN.  155 

building  trade,  including  masons,  stone-cutters,  carpenters,  smiths, 
joiners,  and  other  accessory  trades. 

"The  technical  instruction  to  be  given  by  drawing  in  this  class, 
and  which  will  likewise  serve  as  applications  of  the  rudiments  of 
geometry  and  projection,  will  comprise  the  principal  details  of  the 
labors  of  each  profession.  Masons  and  stone-cutters  will  learn  to 
draw  the  different  modes  of  construction  to  be  employed,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  materials  and  the  parts  to  be  executed,  — simple 
and  mixed  masonry,  chimneys,  the  different  kinds  of  arches  and 
their  intersections,  and  their  voussoirs  and  templates,  staircases,  &c. 
To  these  studies  may  also  be  added  the  actual  execution,  in  plaster- 
of-Paris,  of  all  the  masonry  of  certain  parts,  on  a  small  scale,  —  a 
proceeding  which  lias  been  practised  with  success  in  certain  schools 
of  France  and  Germany.  Carpenters  and  joiners  will  also  execute 
working-drawings  of  roofs  and  constructions  in  wood ;  and  so  on 
with  other  trades. 

"  In  towns  where  there  are  machine-workshops,  it  will  be  advan- 
tageous also  to  form  a  special  class  for  engineers,  for  the  purpose 
of  making  drawings  of  the  more  important  portions  of  machines, 
especially  of  such  as  are  peculiar  to  the  locality,  or  are  most  used. 
The  scries  of  designs  executed  by  the  pupils  of  the  schools  of  arts 
and  trades  may  be  taken  as  types  of  the  mode  to  be  adopted.  The 
artisans  engaged  in  the  different  trades  working  in  metals  may  be 
joined  to  this  last  class,  unless  there  should  be  in  the  neighborhood 
some  special  factories  employing  a  great  number  of  hands,  as  in  the 
manufacture  of  clocks  and  watches,  hardware,  or  locks ;  for  whom 
a  separate  class  ought  then  to  be  opened. 

"  In  one  word,  the  object  of  these  classes  being  to  give  each  work- 
man the  technical  instruction  required  in  his  trade,  every  effort 
must  be  made  to  teach  him  to  execute  drawings  of  the  articles  he 


156  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

has  to  manufacture,  employing  them  as  means  to  make  him  com- 
prehend the  principles  of  geometry,  which  he  will  be  taught  at  the 
same  time.  He  may  also  be  required,  as  an  application  of  his 
knowledge,  to  calculate  the  surface,  volume,  and  weight  of  the 
objects  drawn,  when  their  forms  are  not  too  complicated. 

"  It  has  been  deemed  necessary  to  enter  somewhat  minutely 
into  these  details,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  this  kind  of 
instruction  can  only  be  successfully  given  by  men  who  are  fitted 
for  it  by  their  profession,  or  who,  from  enthusiasm,  have  devoted 
their  attention  to  learning  all  the  practical  details.  From  this  it 
is  evident  that  the  teachers  must,  for  the  most  part,  be  found  among 
engineers,  architects,  builders,  and  foremen,  who,  without  abandon- 
ing their  profession,  will  undertake  the  direction  of  these  Sunday 
or  evening  classes.  .  .  . 

"  These  studies,  intended  for  practical  purposes,  cannot,  there- 
fore, be  efficiently  directed  with  all  the  befitting  details  of  execution, 
with  the  explanation  of  processes,  and  the  necessary  experiments, 
except  by  men  who  have  themselves  practised  the  arts  whose 
principles  and  rules  they  have  to  explain,  and  who  know  how  to 
speak  the  language  of  the  ship-yard  and  the  workshop.  Hence 
results  the  impossibility  of  establishing  for  professional  or  industrial 
teaching,  even  from  a  general  point  of  view,  a  uniform  body  of 
rules  and  methods,  an  organized  professional  staff,  in  short,  a  univer- 
sity of  industrial  education.  This  consequence  is  still  more  evident 
in  all  that  concerns  those  technical  studies  which  have  for  their 
immediate  object  the  methods,  rules,  and  application  of  the  sciences. 

"It  is,  therefore,  often  on  the  very  spot  where  the  technical 
instruction  is  to  be  given,  or  in  the  workshop  itself,  that  many  of 
the  professors  ought  to  be  chosen ;  and,  in  general,  they  must  be 
sought  among  engineers,  practical  men,  and  manufacturers." 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  157 

In  his  report,  to  which  reference  was  made  in  the 
second  chapter,  Prof.  Leone  Levi  says  of  the  canton  of 
Geneva,  Switzerland :  — 

"There  are  evening  industrial  schools,  which,  after  providing 
for  a  preliminary  course  on  arithmetic,  including  decimals  and  the 
metric  system,  have,  in  the  inferior  division,  geometry,  physic,  and 
lineal  design ;  in  the  middle  division,  algebra,  book-keeping, 
chemistry,  and  industrial  design ;  and,  in  the  superior  division, 
natural  history,  political  economy,  mechanics,  design,  descriptive 
geometry,  and  chemical  manipulations.  The  fees  in  these  schools 
are,  for  regular  students,  five  francs  for  the  preparatory  course, 
ten  francs  for  the  inferior  division,  fifteen  francs  for  the  middle,  and 
twenty  francs  for  the  superior.  The  fees  for  occasional  or  not 
regular  students  are  five  francs  for  the  preparatory  course,  ten  francs 
for  the  inferior  division,  eight  francs  for  one  course  in  the  middle 
division,  and  ten  francs  for  one  course  in  the  superior  division. 
Teachers  are  paid  in  part  by  a  fixed  rate  per  hour,  and  in  part  by 
a  portion  of  the  fees,  divided  among  all  professors  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  lessons  given  by  each." 

Prof.  Leone  Levi  further  speaks  in  this  wise  of  the 
evening  instruction  which  has  been  provided  for  work- 
men in  England :  — 

"If,  from  the  education  of  children,  we  pass  to  the  instruction  of 
those  who  have  already  entered  on  the  active  duties  of  life,  the  want 
now  felt  in  this  country  becomes  still  more  evident.  An  attempt 
was  early  made  for  diffusing  instruction  among  our  artisans,  the 
foundation  of  mechanic  institutes,  the  original  object  of  which  was 

14 


158         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

to  impart  instruction  to  workmen  in  those  rules  and  principles 
which  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  art  they  practice  ;  but  they  have  failed 
to  attract  the  mechanics.  In  the  membership  of  mechanic  insti- 
tutions, the  mechanics,  millwrights,  overlookers,  spinners,  and 
other  laborers  figure  only  in  a  small  proportion  ;  whilst  the  number 
taking  advantage  of  such  institutions,  in  proportion  to  the  total 
number  of  laboring-classes  in  anyone  town,  is  quite  insignificant; 
though  it  is  quite  possible,  that,  in  many  cases,  the  working-man, 
by  contact  with  any  such  institution,  becomes  more  enlightened 
and  refined  in  manner  and  bearing,  that,  leaving  his  ordinary  dress 
at  home,  he  is  in  the  evening  little  distinguishable  from  persons 
belonging  to  the  middle  class  of  life,  and  that,  in  many  ways,  the 
working-classes  still  derive  from  them  essential  benefit. 

"  A  mechanics'  institute,  as  usually  organized,  has  evening 
classes  for  five  evenings  in  the  week;  one  evening,  being  usually 
dedicated  to  lectures  and  lighter  entertainments.  It  has  a  library 
for  reference  and  the  circulation  of  books,  and  a  reading-room  open 
from  early  in  the  morning  till  late  at  night.  The  subjects  of  in- 
struction in  the  different  classes  are  very  extensive.  They  comiiri.se 
nearly  all  the  branches  of  elementary  science  and  literature  necessary 
for  educated  young  men  in  the  middle  class  of  life,  such  as  arith- 
metic, book-keeping,  English  composition,  English  grammar, 
English  literature,  drawing,  and  foreign  languages,  with  some  of  the 
m-jrc  advanced  sciences,  such  as  chemistry,  geometry,  mathematics, 
natural  philosophy,  £c. ;  and  the  fees  are  very  low.  But  they  are 
wanting  in  unity  and  system.  The  instruction  is  not  consecutive: 
it  does  not  extend  over  any  definite  period  ;  whilst  there  is  no  con- 
nection whatever  between  the  private  classes  and  public  lecturers. 
In  fact,  as  schools  of  science  and  art,  they  are  in  most  cases  very 
defective ;  and,  as  to  funds  or  modes  of  existence  generally,  their 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  159 

condition  is  most  precarious,  the  greatest  efforts  being  needed  to 
maintain  such  institutions  in  existence. 

"  Of  similar  character,  at  least  in  its  original  object,  is  the  Work- 
ing Men's  College,  founded  in  1854  in  London.  The  studies  there 
comprise  drawing,  vocal  music,  history,  and  law,  languages  ancient 
and  modern,  mathematical  and  physical  sciences,  at  veiy  low  fees, 
and  free  lectures  delivered  on  Saturday  evenings  by  some  of  our 
most  eminent  men.  Yet  the  college  does  not  draw  many  of  the 
mechanics  and  artisans,  the  greater  number  of  students  being  clerks 
receiving  very  small  salaries;  whilst,  with  fees  at  the  lowest  rates,  the 
college  is  not  self-sustaining.  The  good  work  is  in  reality  carried 
on  by  zealous  teachers  acting  gratuitously;  and  the  building  itself 
was  established  by  generous  contributions.  Nor  is  it  to  be  won- 
dered at,  since  even  the  best  institutions,  which  appeal  to  the 
middle  and  higher  classes,  experience  the  greatest  difficulty,  and 
are  seldom  self-supporting  and  remunerative.  The  classes  on  those 
branches  of  study  which  arc  of  acknowledged  necessity,  and  other- 
wise popular,  attract  a  sufficient  number  of  students  to  allow  a  fair 
remuneration  to  the  teachers ;  but  those  on  subjects  more  elevated, 
or  of  more  partial  application,  are  attended  by  too  few  scholars  to 
render  it  worth  while  either  to  the  teacher  or  the  institution  to 
maintain  them. 

"  Yet  exceptions  to  this  general  rule  present  themselves  here 
and  there,  and  prominently  so  is  the  case  of  the  evening  classes  at 
King's  College,  London.  It  is  now  fifteen  years  since,  with  the 
authority  of  the  council  of  King's  College,  I  opened  (in  1852) 
evening  courses  of  lectures  of  a  practical  character  on  commerce 
and  commercial  law.  From  year  to  year,  those  lectures  attracted 
greater  and  increasing  attention,  until,  in  1855,  a  department  was 
established  for  the  purpose  of  providing  a  complete  system  of  prac- 


1GO         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

tical  instruction  to  young  men  daily  employed  in  business,  which 
now  includes  divinity,  Latin,  Greek,  French,  German  and  German 
literature,  Italian,  English,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Hebrew  lan- 
guage, history  of  England,  geography,  arithmetic,  writing,  mathe- 
matics, commerce  (including  principles  of  commerce  and  bank- 
ing), monetary  science  and  foreign  exchanges,  commercial  and 
maritime  law  (national  and  international),  drawing,  elements  of 
chemistrv,  practical  chemistry,  mechanics,  phvsiologv,  botanv,  ex- 
perimental physic,  mineralogy  and  geology,  zoology,  political 
economy,  public  reading  and  speaking,  law.  and  a  civil  service 
class.  These  classes  h  ive  been  most  popular  from  the  commence- 
ment ;  and  from  six  hundred  to  seven  hundred  youths  are  every 
evening  there  employed  in  learning  different  branches  of  science, 
who  heretofore  had  no  opportunity  to  satisfy  4heir  taste,  and  fur 
less  to  obtain  the  necessary  erudition  for  the  practical  duties  of  life. 
King's  College,  situated  in  the  very  centre  of  this  great  metropolis, 
fulfils  in  this  manner  a  most  important  function  in  the  education 
of  the  adult. 

"Still  more  recently  University  College,  London,  has  cstab'ishcd 
its  evening  classes,  wh<;re  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  English,  French, 
Italian,  German,  geography,  history,  elocution,  mineralogy  and 
geology,  mathematics,  physic,  elementary  chemistry,  drawing,  writ- 
ing, book-keeping,  English  law,  Roman  law,  jurisprudence,  and 
equity  and  common  law,  are  taught  by  men  of  great  ability,  and 
at  very  moderate  fees. 

"Nor  can  I  omit  that  most  valuable  institution,  the  City  of 
London  College,  whose  evening  classes  are  crowded  by  pe-sons 
belonging  to  the  commercial  houses  in  the  city.  Some  of  these 
colleges  and  schools  may  succeed  in  maintaining  themselves,  though 
with  great  difficulty;  but  in  the  majority  of  cases  it  is  otherwise,  and, 


INSTRUCTION  OF  WORKMEN.  161 

in  my  opinion,  there  will  never  be  a  sufficient  provision  for  the 
diffusion  of  science  in  this  country,  especially  economic  and  com- 
mercial, natural  and  experimental,  unless  those  institutions  obtain 
a  well-regulated  State  support." 

The  committee  of  the  Hamburg  (Germany)  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Art  and  Industry  say  of  evening 
schools :  — 

"  On  the  fixing  of  a  plan  of  lessons  for  a  Sunday  and  evening 
school,  it  appears  advisable,  that,  as  far  as  possible,  the  artistic  in- 
struction should  be  given  in  the  evening,  and  the  scientific  in  the 
daytime,  as  it  is  found  from  experience,  that,  in  general,  workmen 
are  too  exhausted  after  their  day's  work  for  attention  to  subjects 
such  as  mathematics  for  instance;  whilst  they  appear  sufficiently 
fresh  for  instruction  in  drawing." 

A  committee  of  the  Hamburg  (Germany)  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Art  and  Industry  thus  describe 

The  Museum  of  Industrial  Products  of  the  -Royal  In- 
stitution for  Industry  and  Commerce  at  Stuttgart, 
Wurtemberg. 

"  This  is  destined  to  aid  in  the  promotion  of  existing  industries, 
as  also  to  lay  the  foundations  of  industries  in  general ;  but  it  is  in  no 
way  occupied  with  the  promotion  of  any  one  special  branch  of 
industry. 

"  The  principle  which  is  the  groundwork  of  the  institution  is 
the  general  aim  of  improving  the  elements  of  industrial  occupation 
14* 


162  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

by  exhibitions  of  real  objects,  and  consequent  encouragement  to 
study,  and  to  make  these  accessible  to  all. 

"  The  museum  contains,  in  spacious  rooms,  a  rich  collection 
of  German  and  foreign  manufactures,  a  great  number  of  useful 
machines  and  implements  of  all  kinds,  an  excellent  collection  of 
industrial  art,  a  trades'  drawing-school,  a  library,  a  reading-room, 
and  a  chemical  laboratory. 

"  The  collection  of  manufactures,  arranged  according  to  the 
annexed  plans,  contains  :  — 

"  Leather  and  leather  work ;  work  and  carvings  in  wood,  ivory, 
horn,  cocoanut-shcll,  &c. ;  inlaid  furniture ;  works  in  clay,  cement, 
earthenware,  and  china;  bricks  and  tiles;  glass  ware  and  glass  paint- 
ings ;  articles  made  of  wax,  papier-mache,  gutta-percha,  caoutchouc, 
plaster,  &c. ;  bookbinding  and  portfolio-makers'  wares ;  brushes ; 
paint-brushes ;  combs ;  basket-work  in  straw,  osier,  and  reeds ;  pat- 
terns of  clothing  and  ready-made  clothes ;  nets  and  hooks ;  fabrics, 
and  fabrics  in  process,  made  of  wool,  silk,  cotton,  flax,  hernp,  jute, 
&c. ;  colors;  chemicals;  combustibles;  pencils;  oils;  glue;  instru- 
ments for  measuring,  measures,  scales  and  weights ;  implements  for 
drawing ;  apparatus  used  in  cooking,  in  the  house,  for  lighting,  warm- 
ing, and  extinguishing ;  agricultural  and  garden  tools ;  locks  and 
keys  ;  door  and  window  fastenings;  works  in  tin  and  copper,  &c. 

"  On  account  of  their  origin,  we  must  particularly  notice  the 
many  patterns  of  printed,  embroidered,  and  woven  stuffs,  as  well  as 
of  paper-hangings.  There  are  business-houses  in  Paris  who  receive 
subscriptions  for  the  supply  of  all  the  new  patterns  brought  out, 
and  who  furnish  annually  to  their  subscribers  from  t\vo  hundred 
to  four  hundred  specimens.  The  Royal  Wurtemberg  Industrial 
and  Art  Department  is  in  correspondence  with  such  a  house, 
Messrs.  T.  C.  Claude  Brothers,  32  Rue  du  Sentier,  Paris,  and  pays, 


INSTRUCTION  OF   WORKMEN.  163 

for  example,  two  hundred  and  fifty  francs  annually  for  about  three 
hundred  new  patterns  of  hangings.  The  patterns  are  tolerably 
large ;  and  from  them  drawings  might  be  made  for  other  purposes. 
All  the  patterns  are  bound  together,  with  a  notice  of  the  price  and 
plan  of  origin,  and  form  a  valuable  portion  of  the  library,  which  is 
more  especially  useful  to  merchants.  T.  C.  Claude  Brothers  un- 
dertake, among  other  things,  subscriptions  for  drawings  of  the 
most  modern  Parisian  furniture. 

"  Apart  from  this  collection  of  manufactures,  the  division  for 
machines  and  implements  is  to  be  found  in  an  opposite  room. 

"As  motive-powers  to  set  in  motion  the  other  machines,  there 
are  exhibited,  a  caloric  machine,  a  machine  moved  by  gas  (by 
Lenoir),  a  two-horse  locomotive,  as  well  as  a  stationary  steam-engine. 
After  them  are  placed  in  rows  articles  of  machinery ;  viz.,  a  col- 
lection of  English  castings,  such  as  water  and  steam  cocks,  pumps, 
level  indicators,  balances,  valves,  grease  boxes,  gas  apparatus,  dya- 
nometers,  &c.  Farther  on  are  articles  of  wrought  and  cast  iron, 
hydraulic  and  other  presses,  an  hydraulic  crane  (Hebervinde),  a 
screw  windlass,  machine  for  raising  water,  fire-engines,  weights, 
flour  and  crushing  mills,  looms,  boring-machines,  implements  for 
drilling  and  turning,  machines  for  hammering  and  planing,  imple- 
ments for  various  trades,  &c.  Besides  these,  there  are  machines 
and  contrivances  for  helping  in  household  works,  sewing-machines, 
washing  and  drying  machines,  apparatus  for  filling  and  corking 
bottles,  beer-pumps,  &c. 

"  The  industrial  art  division  of  the  exhibition  numbers  nearly 
a  thousand  beautiful  works,  executed,  for  the  most  part,  by  the 
newest  processes  of  art  printing.  These  are  arranged  according  to 
trades,  and  contain  works  of  ornamentation  and  art  industry,  for 
mechanicians,  builders,  joiners,  paper-hangers,  coach-builders,  house- 


164  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

painters,  workers  in  metal,  earthenware  manufacturers,  as  well  as 
embroidery  and  other  needleworkers,  for  weaving,  book-printing, 
and  instruction  in  drawing. 

"  There  are  also  exhibited  a  quantity  of  photographic  pictures, 
and  a  great  collection  of  price-catalogues  and  price-lists,  which, 
besides  giving  information  as  to  prices,  and  plans  of  origin,  help 
also  in  the  drawing-up  of  similar  catalogues. 

"  A  great  part  of  this  collection  is  made  up  by  the  apparatus  for 
instruction ;  and  here  we  may  particularly  mention  with  approba- 
tion the  rich  collection  of  plaster  and  paper  copies,  as  well  as  the 
plaster  figures  for  the  drawing-school.  This  collection,  from  the 
way  in  which  it  is  arranged,  gives  also  an  opportunity  of  studying 
the  various  styles  of  art. 

"  The  public  drawing-school  is  annexed  to  the  industrial  art 
collection,  and  has  already  been  mentioned  in  the  first  part  of  this 
report.  This  is  attended  by  artisans,  who  use  the  collections  for 
their  own  special  callings,  and  also  by  those  learning  art  indu.-tri-.-s, 
but  especially  by  the  teachers  who  wish  to  perfect  themselves  for 
giving  instruction  in  drawing.  We  may  particularly  mention,  that, 
in  the  industrial  art  division,  artisans  receive  artistic  instruction 
gratis,  and  make  diligent  use  of  it. 

"  The  chemical  laboratory  which  is  annexed  to  the  exhibition 
has  the  aim  of  making  experiments  as  to  new  discoveries  in  the 
department  of  chemical  industry,  as  well  as  of  undertaking  the 
execution  of  analyses.  Of  these,  from  five  hundred  to  six  hundred 
are  made  annually  for  manufacturers,  and  at  very  moderate  prices, 
—  almost  under  cost  price. 

"  The  not  inconsiderable  library  of  the  exhibition,  which  em- 
braces the  department  of  industrial  activity  and  commerce,  is  much 
used,  as  also  the  reading-room,  in  which  about  seventy  periodicals 


INSTRUCTION  OF   WORKMEN.  165 

relating  to  industrial,  commercial,  and  economical  subjects,  are  taken 
in,  as  also  the  directories  of  large  commercial  towns,  and  a  list  of 
the  patents  granted  in  England  and  America.  Lastly,  there  is  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  exhibition  a  weaving  school,  with  looms, 
which  need  merely  be  mentioned  here. 

"One  department  of  the  exhibition,  which  in  its  foundation  was 
incorporated  with  it,  has  for  some  time  ceased  to  exist :  this  is  the 
department  for  the  exhibition  of  the  industrial  products  of  Wur- 
temberg. 

"  This  was  intended  to  make  foreign  merchants  acquainted  with 
the  home  manufactures,  and  to  promote  their  sale.  Native  manu- 
facturers were  not  allowed  admittance,  in  order,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  protect  the  exhibitor  from,  the  imitation  of  new  fabrics  by  com- 
petitors. 

"Against  all  expectation,  this  department  did  not  attain  the 
desired  aim. 

"  The  Royal  Department  for  Industry  and  Commerce  possesses 
a  yearly  revenue  of  ninety  thousand  florins,  of  which  thirty  thou- 
sand florins  are  annually  expended  in  acquisitions  for  the  ex- 
hibition. 

"  This  is  open,  on  working-days  and  holidays,  from  ten  to  twelve 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  from  two  to  six  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. All  persons  who  visit  it  for  the  purposes  of  their  trade,  and 
who  will  enter  their  names  in  a  book  placed  for  that  purpose,  have 
free  admittance.  Others  pay  six  kreutz  entrance.  On  Sundays, 
from  half-past  ten  till  half-past  twelve  o'clock,  admittance  is  free, 
without  exception. 

"  The  loan  of  patterns  and  of  articles  in  the  industrial  art  col- 
lection was  particularly  mentioned  at  Stuttgart,  and  pointed  out  as 
being  especially  advantageous. 


1G6  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"  That  the  influence  of  the  exhibition  is  most  salutary,  as  also 
that  it  has  effected  a  decided  progress  in  the  industry  of  Wurtem- 
ber^,  all  the  manufacturers  of  the  country  would  no  doubt  unani- 
mously admit.  How  extensively  it  is  made  use  of,  is  to  be  seen 
from  the  fact  that  a  third  part  of  the  collections  is  lent  out  at  one 
time,  and  serves  for  the  thorough  instruction  of  the  workmen.  Let 
us  reflect  how  long  it  often  is  before  a  small  manufacturer  (and  it 
is  exactly  this  numerous  class  of  persons  which  needs  support)  can 
be  made  acquainted  with  new  technical  improvements,  and  can  get 
to  see  them  ;  how  long  he  continues  to  work  with  forms  of  which  the 
fashion  has  already  become  antiquated,  and  uses  instruments  which 
have  long  been  replaced  by  more  convenient  ones  ;  let  us  think  how 
important  any  movement  is  to  the  manufacturer  which  furnishes 
him  with  new  ideas,  and  how  necessary  it  is  in  the  present  day,  for 
the  success  of  even  the  most  skilled  workman,  that  he  should  intro- 
duce novelties  into  the  market,  —  we  can  then  imagine  how  grateful 
the  hundreds  of  workpeople  are  to  the  Wurtemberg  Museum,  which 
is  of  such  service  to  them  hi  their  instruction,  and  the  promoiion 
of  their  trades." 

In  chapter  two  mention  is  made  of  the  reports  of 
the  English  artisans  who  were  sent  gratuitously  to  the 
Paris  Exhibition,  1867.  One  of  these  artisans,  Mr. 
Charles  Alfred  Hooper,  cabinet-maker,  says  of  mu- 
seums :  — 

"  The  boys  serve  three  or  four  years  in  the  trade,  and  have  better 
advantages  for  getting  an  art  education  than  we  have.  All  the 
schools  are  open  to  them,  where  the  higher  branches  are  taught; 
and  they  are  not  kept,  as  our  boys,  to  simply  reading,  writing,  and 


INSTRUCTION  OF   WORKMEN.  167 

arithmetic.  The  art  galleries  and  museums  are  all  open  free  to  them 
Sundays  and  week  days,  so  that  they  imbibe  a  taste  for  art  and 
refined  behavior  before  they  can  read  or  write." 

Another,  Mr.  Aaron  Green,  porcelain  decorator, 
says : — 

"The  show-rooms  and  museum  at  Sevres  are,  perhaps,  the 
greatest  treat  which  a  porcelain  painter  could  be  favored  with : 
there  he  can  see  specimens  of  every  country  and  style.  And  they 
are  not  mere  specimens ;  but  many  of  them  are  of  the  rarest  quality 
and  value.  The  porcelain  painting  exhibited  in  the  show-rooms 
here  is  not  equalled  by  any  in  the  Great  Exhibition,  and  is  of  such 
surpassing  excellence  as  to  warrant  the  French  in  assuming  a 
superiority  over  any  other  nation.  The  painting  of  some  of  the 
figure  subjects  is  truly  grand  ;  while  the  fruit  and  flower  painting 
of  Jaccober  it  seems  impossible  to  surpass  :  indeed,  I  have  never 
seen  any  thing  that  at  all  approaches  it.  There  are  large  vases 
covered  with  ornament,  which  for  beauty,  distribution,  and  purity 
of  form  and  color,  filled  me  with  amazement,  and  a  feeling  some- 
what approaching  to  humiliation. 

"  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  close  proximity 
of  the  workshops  to  the  museum  must  be  of  immense  value  to  the 
decorators  and  designers,  refreshing  their  memory,  inciting  their 
ideas,  and  continually  adding  to  their  stock  of  knowledge.  And  in. 
this  instance  the  French  teach  us  a  lesson ;  for,  while  the  examples 
purchased  from  time  to  time  by  the  nation  are  very  valuable  and 
instructive,  they  would  be  of  more  use  and  real  service,  if,  instead 
of  being  assembled  in  the  metropolis,  each  locality  that  is  pre-emi- 
nently famous  for  some  speciality  had  its  own  museum.  I  think 
by  this  means  our  national  industry  would  be  benefited,  and  the 


1G8  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

general  prosperity  of  the  nation  increased  ;  for  it  is  obvious,  that, 
under  the  present  system,  our  artisans  (at  best)  can  see  the  ex- 
amples they  need  only  at  rare  intervals  ;  and  that  often,  when  they 
wish  to  make  use  of  them,  they  have  to  depend  upon  recollections 
considerably  weakened  by  time,  and  consequently  of  a  very  imper- 
fect character." 

Another,  Mr.  Benjamin  Lucraft,  chair-maker,  says :  — 

"  I  will  now,  in  as  few  words  as  possible,  offer  two  or  three  sug- 
gestions whereby  this  state  of  things  may  be  altered,  and  the  art 
workmen  of  England  enabled  so  to  improve  themselves  in  matters 
of  taste  as  to  successfully  compete  with  the  now  more  fortunate 
workmen  of  France.  In  the  first  place,  the*  council  of  the  Society 
of  Arts  may  use  its  influence  with  her  Majesty's  Government  for 
the  establishment  of  local  museums  of  art  manufacture,  with  lecture- 
halls,  libraries,  and  other  necessary  adjuncts  and  appliances,  for  the 
use  and  instruction  of  the  people,  and  open  at  such  hours  as  will 
suit  their  convenience  and  opportunities  for  attending  ;  which,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  will  be  in  the  evening,  when  lectures  by  compe- 
tent men  would  be  largely  attended;  and  I  venture  to  suggest  that 
the  loading  industries  of  certain  districts  may  form  their  principal 
feature.  In  this  way,  if  for  the  north  of  London  a  museum  should 
be  established,  its  position  ought  to  be  as  near  as  possible  the  centre 
of  its  manufacturing  district;  and  the  most  important  industries 
of  that  district  should  be  especially  considered  in  the  fitting-np,  and 
the  specimens  to  be  exhibited.  For  example,  to  assist  the  cabinet- 
makers, carvers,  chair-makers,  and  upholsterers  of  Shored  itch, 
Hoxton,  and  Lower  Islington,  —  where  this  trade  is  carried  on  to 
a  great  extent, —good  specimens  of  different  styles  and  times  in 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  169 

these  branches  would  be  of  the  greatest  value  ;  and  in  the  adjoin- 
ing parishes  of  St.  Luke  and  Clerkewell,  where  tens  of  thousands 
of  the  population  are  dependent  on  the  trade  of  the  watchmaker, 
the  jeweller,  the  gold  and  silver  workers,  and  all  the  various  trades 
connected  with  the  precious  metals,  examples  of  these,  from  the 
earliest  times,  and  from  all  countries,  would  be  of  the  greatest  in- 
terest and  benefit,  not  only  to  them,  but  to  the  whole  nation." 

Another,  Mr.  James  Mackie,  wood-carver,  says  :  — 

"  The  education  of  the  workman  is  of  primary  importance.  Onr 
schools  have  rendered  valuable  service ;  and  much  of  our  progress 
is  traceable  to  their  influence;  but  they  are  capable  of  doing  more, 
if  only  a  new  life  is  infused  into  them.  Our  great  buildings  are  full 
of  excellent  examples,  which  deserve  to  be  more  studied  than  they 
are.  In  our  museums  and  galleries  there  are  splendid  examples 
of  art,  that,  if  studied,  would  work  wonderful  changes  in  our  taste 
and  power.  I  know  that  they  are  not  esteemed  as  they  should  be ; 
and  I  also  know  that  they  are  not  so  accessible  as  they  should  be. 
Establish  more  museums  of  industrial  art,  be  they  ever  so  small, 
and  let  them  be  open  at  convenient  hours  and  days  for  the  artisan 
class.  Let  the  architects  look  to  the  carving  that  is  being  done  in 
our  new  London ;  for  much  of  it  is  a  scandal  and  a  disgrace  to  our 
taste,  and  its  effects  upon  the  carver's  education  are  most  damaging. 
Something  better  is  demanded.  If  we  are  to  have  any  art  in  our 
streets,  pray  let  it  be  good  and  instructive.  Let  us  have  open  spaces 
in  the  metropolis  arranged  to  please  the  eye  and  develop  the  taste ; 
and  at  the  same  time  provide  the  means  of  rest  for  those  who  do 
not  want  the  accommodation  supplied  in  places  of  resort  that  are 
questionable.  Do  not  forget  that  the  education  of  the  workman  is 


170  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

not  confined  to  the  established  schools  ;  for  there  are  many  ways  of 
increasing  his  knowledge  outside  the  walls  of  those  useful  places. 
Let  the  workman  be  encouraged  to  learn  and  practise  the  arts  of 
drawing,  modelling,  and  design  ;  for  they  undoubtedly  constitute 
the  very  groundwork  of  the  carver's  art.  Let  the  encouragement 
be  kind,  friendly,  and  continuous,  taking  the  form  of  liberal  pri/es 
to  the  advanced  workmen,  accompanied  with  numerous  small 
prizes,  in  order  to  develop  the  industry  of  all.  Lectures  on  art 
would  be  of  great  value ;  for  men  would  be  by  them  induced  to 
study,  and  put  forth  their  strength.  Let  our  system  of  instruc- 
tion and  practice  at  our  schools  be  simple,  inviting,  and  interesting, 
not  dull,  repulsive,  and  crushing,  as  it  certainly  has  been  to 
many.  We  have  the  stuff  amongst  us  :  let  it  be  cared  for  in  a 
large  and  liberal  spirit,  and  it  will  be  strange  indeed  if  the  England 
of  the  future  docs  not  see  something  more  worthy  of  her  great 
name." 

Another,  Mr.  Thomas  Jacob,  cabinet  draughtsman, 
says :  — 

"  To  improve  the  taste  of  working-men,  every  possible  oppor- 
tunity should  be  given  them  of  inspecting  works  of  art  during  their 
leisure  hours,  that  they  may  see  what  has  been  and  is  being  done 
by  the  artists,  who  are  but  men  like  themselves.  It  is  unreasonable 
to  expect  a  man  to  imitate  or  rival  that  which  he  has  never  seen  ; 
but  after  he  has  seen  these  things,  if  he  has  talent  and  mettle  of  the 
right  sort  in  him,  he  will  not  long  be  content  to  lag  behind  his  fol- 
low workmen  of  this  or  any  other  country/' 

Mr.  J.  Scott  Russell,  in  his  book,  "Systematic  Tech- 
nical Education  of  the  English  people,"  says  :  — 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  171 

"  The  two  words  '  look  there,'  are  often  more  valuable  than  an 
hour's  lecture.  The  pupil  takes  into  his  mind  the  form,  color, 
meaning,  of  the  thing  itself,  which  no  words  could  give  him  :  and, 
in  good  collections  of  this  sort,  the  insides  of  things  are  shown  him 
as  clearly  as  the  outsides  ;  so  that  the  pupil's  knowledge  is  thorough, 
instead  of  merely  skin-deep.  It  should  also  be  remembered  that  edu- 
cation by  the  eye  is  as  fertile  in  fruit  as  education  by  the  ear  ;  and 
that  merely  to  familiarize  men  with  the  sight  of  things  made  as  they 
should  be  is  the  most  effectual  teaching  to  avoid  and  dislike  what 
is  inferior  or  wrong.  The  material  element  of  teaching  is,  therefore, 
secondary  only  in  value  to  the  living  element." 

UNIVERSAL    PRIMARY   EDUCATION. 

The  French  Imperial  Commission  described  in  the 
second  chapter  elicited  the  following  from  the  editors  of 
"  The  Journal  of  Professional  Education,'7  as  to  the  ele- 
mentary education  of  artisans  :  — 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  one  of  the  first  indispensable  require- 
ments in  children  who  are  to  receive  a  professional  training  is  a 
knowledge  of  the  elements  of  the  science,  —  such  as  geometry,  physics, 
and  chemistry,  —  in  a  degree  adapted  to  the  wants  of  any  special  in- 
dustry. For  this  purpose,  schools  on  the  plan  of  the  Turgot  School 
should  be  multiplied  in  the  great  manufacturing  centres,  Paris, 
Lyons,  Nantes,  Bordeaux,  Lille,  and  Mulhouse.  A  preliminary 
training  of  this  description  is  required  even  by  children  who  are 
destined  for  the  handicrafts.  Every  manufacturer  knows  the  differ- 
ence between  an  apprentice  who  has  been  thoroughly  accustomed  to 
scientific  definitions,  and  one  who  can  merely  read  and  write  ;  even 


172         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

in  learning  the  use  of  tools,  the  former  is  twice  as  quick  as  the  latter 
besides  understanding  more  easily  the  explanation  of  the  master." 

In  their  report  the  French  Imperial  Commission 
say:  — 

"In  fact,  ihe  failure  of  the  first  foundations  of  this  kind  at- 
tempted in  England,  about  1825,  under  the  name  of  '  Mechanics 
Institutes/  like  those  which  since  1800  have  succeeded  in  Scotland 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Birkbock,  who  was  their  first  founder, 
proves  that  it  is  of  paramount  importance,  first  of  all,  to  make  sure 
that  the  workmen  for  whom  the  lectures  are  intended  have  received 
as  sound  and  complete  a  primary  education  as  possible.  Thus 
whilst,  in  Scotland,  the  Parochial  Schools  h;id  spread  among  all 
classes  of  the  population  an  amount  of  instruction  about  equal  to 
that  which  the  French  law  of  1833  defined  as  superior  primary  in- 
struction, the  day  and  evening  classes  of  the  Mechanics'  Institutes 
obtained  a  complete  and  almost  general  success.  In  England,  on 
the  contrary,  the  teachers  in  these  institutions  had  scarcely  begun 
to  talk  of  science  to  the  mechanics,  when  they  encountered  an 
obstacle  which  had  not  been  found  to  exist  in  Scotland  to  the  same 
extent.  The  absence  of  elementary  instruction  was  complete. 
Lord  Brougham  and  his  friends  were  in  advance  of  their  age.  .  .  . 
Of  these  institutions  there  soon  remained  nothing  but  the  name  and 
the  building ;  which  last  was  used  for  other  purposes.  In  most 
cases,  it  was  occupied  by  a  mechanics'  or  middle-class  club,  where 
persons  who  paid  a  small  monthly  contribution  met  to  amuse  them- 
selves on  winter  evenings.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  teaching." 

In  their  summary  of  the  inquiry  on  technical  educa- 
tion in  Germany  and  Switzerland,  the  sub-commission 
of  the  French  Imperial  Commission  speak  thus  :  — 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  173 

"  In  the  first  place,  and  almost  with  one  accord,  all  the  persons 
consulted  have  recognized  and  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  a  degree 
of  general  preparatory  instruction  proportioned  to  the  extent  of 
professional  or  industrial  education  which  is  to  be  its  complement ; 
and  which  is  intended  to  place  every  individual  in  a  position  to  fol- 
low with  success  the  career  he  may  have  in  view,  or  has  already  em- 
braced. But  at  the  same  time  it  has  been  as  positively  declared  by  the 
most  eminent  principals  of  industrial  establishments,  that  the  deplor- 
able and  far  too  general  absence  of  primary  instruction  among  even 
the  most  intelligent  workmen  was  one  of  the  greatest  and  most 
lamentable  obstacles  to  the  development  of  their  faculties,  and  the 
progress  of  industry.  .  .  . 

"The  course  to  be  followed,  and  the  different  means  to  be  em- 
ployed, to  improve  and  extend  the  education  of  workingmen  already 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  their  trades,  have  been  among  the  most 
important  objects  of  the  inquiry.  The  difficulties  thrown  in  the 
way  of  this  kind  of  instruction  by  the  almost  total  absence  of  pri- 
mary education,  and  especially  by  the  general  ignorance  of  the 
scientific  forms  of  even  the  simplest  reasoning,  have  been  pointed 
out  to  the  commission  However,  numerous  examples  tend  to 
show,  that,  by  combining  the  study  of  drawing  with  the  teaching 
peculiar  to  the  different  industries,  it  is  not  impossible  to  obtain 
happy  results.  The  man  who  is  in  the  habit  of  working  any  given 
substance,  often,  indeed,  acquires  by  a  sort  of  intuition  a  sounder 
and  more  intimate  knowledge  of  its  fundamental  properties  and 
mechanical  effects  than  he  who  has  limited  his  studies  to  the  desk." 

In  chapter  two,  reference  is  made  to  the  report   of 
Prof.  Leone  Levi.     He  says :  — 

"  Hitherto,  the  progress  of  Britain  in  industry  and  manufacture 
15 


174         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

has  been  achieved  by  a  few  leading  minds  operating  with  an  array 
of  laborers  wonderfully  endowed  with  physical  and  moral  power 
to  overcome  the  greatest  resistance,  yet  singularly  deficient  in  in- 
tellectual power.  Incomparably  greater  would  be  her  progress, 
were  science  and  art  more  diffused  amongst  the  entire  community. 
What  is  required,  therefore,  is,  first,  a  more  extended  and  compre- 
hensive system  of  primary  and  secondary  instruction,  well  arranged, 
and  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  society ;  and,  secondly,  the 
diffusion  of  technical  instruction,  or  instruction  in  those  sciences 
and  arts  which  enter  into  the  different  occupations  and  professions 
of  IHe,  altogether  direct  and  practical  in  its  teaching,  and  every- 
where associated  with  the  realities  of  life." 

Mr.  James  Hole,  honorable  secretary,  of  the  York- 
shire Union  of  Mechanics'  Institutes,  in  a  letter  to  Lord 
Robert  Mont'agu,  vice-president  of  the  Committee  of 
Council  on  Education,  England,  says  :  — 

"  All  who  have  expressed  any  opinions  on  this  question  concur 
in  thinking  that  we  must  have  a  much  more  complete  system  of 
primary  instruction  before  secondary  education  can  become  de- 
veloped and  improved  to  a  satisfactory  degree.  For  many  years 
past,  the  greater  part  of  the  educational  work  of  our  mechanics' 
institutions  has  been  to  supply  the  mere  elementary  education 
that  ought  to  have  been  acquired  in  the  day  school  ;  and  the 
great  object  for  which  mechanics'  institutions  were  originally 
established — viz.,  the  technical  education  now  so  much  talked 
about  —  has  remained  almost  in  total  abeyance." 

"  In  his  reply  to  Lord  Stanley,  Mr.   Lumley  encloses 


INSTRUCTION   OF   WORKMEN.  175 

a  report  on  popular  education  in  Switzerland,  which  thus 
speaks  of  primary  education :  — 

"Instruction  in  the  Swiss  primary  schools  comprises  reading  and 
writing  in  the  mother-tongue  (German,  French,  or  Italian,  accord- 
ing to  the  canton),  arithmetic,  and  the  first  principles  of  geometry, 
drawing,  singing,  Swiss  and  general  history,  geography,  and  the 
elements  of  natural  science.  Gymnastics  are  also  being  gradually 
introduced  ;  and  female  needlework  is  taught  to  the  girls  at  fixed 
hours  in  the  girls'  and  mixed  schools." 

Mr.  J.  Scott  Russell,  in  his  work  on  "  The  Systematic 
Technical  Education  of  the  English  People/'  says  :  — 

"  Unhappily,  mechanics,  when  taught  to  working-men,  is  gen- 
erally either  taught  superficially,  unphilosophically,  or  with  little 
or  no  reference  to  the  business  of  their  life.  Economy  of  bodily 
strength,  best  ways  of  handling  things,  best  ways  of  moving  things, 
best  ways  of  helping  each  other,  best  ways  of  carrying,  lifting, 
shifting  things,  —  these  are  seldom  taught.  Some  foolish  algebraical 
formula,  or  abstract  geometrical  diagram,  is  put  before  the  poor 
mechanic,  and  called  science.  As  well  call  it  magic.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  hopeless  in  the  matter  of  educating  the  '  working-man ' 
who  has  grown  up  into  manhood  without  education.  For  the 
most  part,  such  men  are  too  old  to  learn.  I  have  never  seen,  but 
exceptionally,  much  good  come  of  trying  to  drive  figures  and  geo- 
metrical problems,  and  mechanical  theorems,  and  light  and  shade, 
into  the  head  of  a  full-grown  workman  who  had  failed  to  get  a  good 
education  when  young.  There  have  been  brilliant  exceptions  —  how 
brilliant !  how  few  !  " 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DRAWING. 

THE  evidence  which  is  presented  in  this  chapter, 
coming  from  many  and  the  most  trustworthy  sources, 
shows  beyond  reasonable  doubt,  that  among  all  the 
branches  of  instruction,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest, 
which  can  contribute  to  the  technical  education  of 
either  sex,  drawing,  in  its  varied  forms  and  appli- 
cations, is  the  one  most  essential  to  make  common.  As, 
in  teaching  other  things,  somewhat  different  methods 
are  successfully  followed,  so  the  evidence  shows,  as  was 
to  be  expected,  that  somewhat  different  methods  are 
successfully  followed  in  teaching  drawing.  While  there 
are  methods  which  receive  the  universal  condemna- 
tion of  good  educators,  there  are  other  methods  which 
receive  their  universal  approval,  though  not  in  the  same 
degree.  The  methods  must,  of  course,  vary,  more  or 
less,  according  to  the  age  of  the  pupils,  according  to  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  instruction  is  given, 
176 


DRAWING.  177 

and  according  to  the  particular  result  which  it  is  desired 
to  attain.  The  following  points  appear  to  be  clearly 
settled :  — 

1.  There  is  such  an  intimate   relation  between   the 
different  departments  of  drawing  and  art,  while  broad 
culture  is  always  so  much  better  than  narrow  culture, 
that    the   best   results    in   any   one   direction   can    be 
secured  only  when  the   instruction   is   general.     To  be- 
come a  thorough  master  of  any  department  of  drawing 
or  art,  one  needs  to  be  acquainted  with  all  departments. 
Hence  the  instruction  in   drawing  should  be,  whenever 
possible,    broad,    and   not   simply   special,    even    when 
special  results  alone  are  sought. 

2.  As  it  is  impossible  that  every  one  should  be  thor- 
oughly instructed  in  all  the  departments  of  drawing,  it 
is  well,  in  determining  what  the  public  schools  should 
attempt,  to  divide  drawing  into  three  general  courses :  a 
preparatory  course,  an  industrial  course,  and  an  artistic 
course.     The  preparatory  course,  embracing  the  elements 
of  both  industrial  and  artistic  drawing,  should  be  pursued 
by  all  pupils  alike.    When  this  course  —  whch  should  be 
quite  liberal,  extending  at  least  through  the  grammar 
school  —  has   been    finished,  those  pupils    of  the    high 
school  who    are    to    engage  in  industrial   pursuits,  but 
have  not  time  to  take  both  the  industrial  and  artistic 
courses,  should  give  special^  though  not  exclusive,  alten- 


178  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

tion  to  projection  and  working  drawings.  For  a  similar 
reason,  those  pupils  of  the  high  school  who  desire  to 
obtain  a  more  purely  artistic  culture  will  give  special 
attention  to  shading  and  perspective,  to  drawing  the 
human  figure,  and  from  nature.  As  it  is  not  the 
proper  business  of  the  public  schools  to  make  special- 
ists, the  instruction  in  the  industrial  course  should 
be,  in  the  main,  confined  to  those  things  which 
the  different  industries  have  in  common.  So,  too,  the 
instruction  in  the  artistic  course  should  be,  in  the 
main,  confined  to  those  things  only  which  belong  alike 
to  the  different  artistic  professions.  Those  things  which 
specially  belong  to  any  one  industry,  or  to  any  one 
department  of  art,  and  are  therefore  of  limited  use, 
should  usually  be  left  to  special  schools. 

8.  In  its  general  character  the  instruction  should  be 
rational,  not  dogmatic ;  that  is,  the  pupils  should  be 
taught  the  reason  for  what  they  do,  so  that  every  draw- 
ing, every  line  they  make,  will  be  an  expression  of 
intelligence.  With  rare  exceptions,  the  teacher  need 
not,  and  the  judicious  teacher  will  not,  give  young 
pupils  things  to  do  which  involve  principles  clearly 
beyond  the  range  of  their  comprehension.  When  this 
must  be  done,  then  the  less  said  about  the  principles 
the  better:  of  necessity  the  instruction  must,  in  such 
case,  degenerate  into  dogmatism.  Dogmatic  instruction 


DRAWING.  179 

will  simply  enable  the  pupils  to  do  again  what  they 
have  once  done,  —  a  thing  of  great  value  indeed  ;  but 
rational  instruction,  giving  a  mastery  of  principles,  will 
not  only  enable  the  pupils  to  do  again  what  they  have 
once  done,  but  to  make  new  applications  of  the  princi- 
ples learned.  It  should  be  the  aim  to  produce  work- 
men, designers,  artists,  who  can  do  something  more 
than  imitate;  who,  working  in  obedience  to  funda- 
mental principles,  can  meet  the  ever-changing  require- 
ments of  actual  life,  can  give  the  world  original 
creations.  Those  pupils  whose  instruction  in  drawing 
simply  enables  them  to  copy  have  been .  poorly  in- 
structed indeed;  and  the  instruction  will  tell  adversely 
upon  their  future  careers. 

4.  There  are  two  general  and  very  different  modes 
which  are  followed  in  the  execution  of  drawings.  The 
first  lays  great  stress  upon  fine  finish,  less  upon  ex- 
pression ;  the  lines  are  drawn  with  the  utmost  care  from 
the  outset;  and  the  shading  is  elaborately  executed 
with  a  pencil-point.  The  last  lays  great  stress  upon 
expression,  less  upon  fine  finish  ;  the  lines  are  drawn 
boldly  from  the  outset,  it  being  left  to  time  and  practice 
to  give  accuracy  ;  while  the  shading  is  rapidly  done  with 
the  stump.  The  first,  which  may  be  called  the  English 
method,  tends  to  produce  workmen,  designers,  and 
artists  who  work  slowly,  and  finish  finely,  but  whose 


180  TECHNICAL   EDUCATION. 

work  is  lacking  in  life  and  character.  The  second, 
which  may  be  called  the  French  method,  gives  rapid 
execution,  and  yields  products,  which,  while  oftentimes 
lacking  in  finish,  are  always  instinct  with  life  and 
character.  The  preference  is  given  to  the  latter  method 
both  for  purely  artistic  and  for  industrial  purposes. 
But  evidently  the  best  method  must  aim  to  secure  both 
finish  and  expression  with  celerity  of  execution.  Any 
product  which  is  both  well  designed  and  well  finished 
must  command  a  better  price  than  if  it  is  only  well 
designed  or  only  well  finished. 

5.  From  time  to  time,  teachers  should-vary  somewhat 
their   method   of    instruction.     They    should    accustom 
their  pupils  to  use  different  materials ;  as    the  black- 
board, which  permits  such  freedom  of  movement,  should 
occasionally  take  the  place  of  paper.     They  should  not 
always  require  their  pupils  to  draw  from  the  flat,  nor 
always  from  objects,  nor  always  from  the  human  figure. 
Indeed,   the    instruction   should   be  judiciously   gradu- 
ated, with   ever  something  of  variety  for   the    purpose 
both  of  better  pleasing  and  better  disciplining. 

6.  After  a  little  preliminary  practice  in   the   drawing 
and  division  of  lines,  pupils  should  begin  with  exercises  in 
drawing  from  flat  copies,  which  should  be  symmetrically 
regular;  that  is,  geometrical  or  conventionalized  forms, 
without  perspective  and  without  shading.     These  exer- 


DBA  WING.  181 

cises  should  be  continued  long  enough  to  familiarize 
the  learner  with  pure  form  ;  to  familiarize  him  with  the 
leading  principles  of  design,  especially  as  applied  to 
textile  fabrics  and  to  all  flat  ornamentation  j  to  familiar- 
ize him  with  the  different  styles  of  decorative  art, 
both  ancient  and  modern.  The  copies,  therefore, 
should  be  largely  historical,  and  the  most  beauti- 
ful it  is  possible  to  select.  When  the  pupils  have  thus 
become  acquainted  with  what  has  been  done,  and  have 
learned  the  principles  according  to  which  it  was  done, 
they  will  be  prepared  not  only  to  reproduce  intelli- 
gently, but  to  originate  intelligently :  indeed,  while 
they  are  working  at  their  copies,  they  should  be  con- 
stantly required  to  produce  new  designs,  which  they 
will  be  both  able  and  pleased  to  do,  and  thus  will  be- 
come much  more  than  mere  copyists.  Again  :  the  taste 
of  the  pupils  —  especially  if  "  taste  is  the  recollection 
of  the  beautiful,"  as  it  has  been  defined  —  must  be 
greatly  improved  by  the  long  study  of  such  beautiful 
forms  as  the  copies  will  furnish. 

When  the  pupils  have  learned  to  draw  regular  forms, 
which  permit  them  to  verify  their  work  and  to  deter- 
mine whether  their  drawings  are  accurate  or  not,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  should  they  begin  to  draw  irregular 
forms,  like  those  in  nature,  which  do  not  permit  them 
to  verify  their  work  and  determine  whether  or  not  their 

16 


182         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

drawings  are  accurate.  If  the  pupils  cannot  learn  to 
draw  regular  forms  accurately,  it  is  absurd  to  expect 
that  they  will  ever  learn  to  draw  accurately  forms 
which  are  irregular.  Until  they  are  able  to  do  the 
first  with  a  good  degree  of  success,  they  should  not  be 
set  about  doing  the  second.  The  symmetrical  should 
therefore  precede  the  unsymmetrical :  that  which  can 
be  verified  should  precede  that  which  cannot  be  verified. 
A  little  intermixture,  perhaps,  of  the  latter  with  the  for- 
mer, for  the  sake  of  variety,  may  not  be  objectionable.  But 
when  it  comes  to  drawing  from  nature,  from  unsymmet- 
rical objects,  what  should  be  the  general  character  of 
such  drawing  in  the  public  schools  ?  As  a  chief  reason 
for  putting  drawing  into  the  public  schools  must  be  in- 
dustrial, it  is  evident  that  those  natural  objects  should 
be  first  taken  which  have  the  most  to  do  with  practical 
art.  It  is  the  vegetable  world,  not  the  animal  world, 
nor  the  human  figure,  from  which  practical  art,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  has  derived  the  greater  portion  of 
its  principles  and  its  designs.  It  is  particularly  appro- 
priate, therefore,  that  pupils  in  the  public  schools 
should  first  learn  to  draw  those  vegetable  forms  —  leaves, 
flowers,  vines  —  which  have  contributed  so  much  to 
practical  art.  Useful  as  it  undoubtedly  is,  especially 
in  the  matter  of  discipline,  to  draw  the  human  figure, 
yet  it  is  an  indirect  and  laborious  way  of  reaching 


DRAWING.  183 

practical  results.  Indeed,  it  may  well  be  questioned 
whether  satisfactory  results  can  ever  be  reached  in  this 
way  alone,  as  some  have  claimed. 

7.  Taken  at  the  proper  .time,  but  not  at  the  outset, 
it  is  clear  that  drawing  from  geometrical    models    and 
beautiful  artificial  objects,  from  beautiful  ornaments  in 
relief,  and  from  graceful  casts,  is  of  the  most  unquestion- 
able   value,  both    industrial    and   purely  artistic.     The 
pupils  thus  learn    to    represent  on    paper  objects   hav- 
ing  the    three    dimensions.     For   industrial     purposes, 
the    value   consists    mainly  in    disciplining  the    imagi- 
nation,   training    the    eye,    and    improving    the  taste. 
Every  artisan  should  be  so  thoroughly  trained  in  this 
species  of  drawing  as  to  be  able   to   see   mentally  the 
exact  form  of  any  object  he  is    required   to   construct, 
determining  at  once  the  direction  of  each  line.     If  it 
is  a  beautiful  object  that  is  required,  he  should  be  able  to 
make  it,  which  he  can  never  do  unless  he  is  first  able  to 
discriminate  between  what  is,  and  what  is  not,  beautiful. 
This  species  of  drawing  involves  somewhat  of  perspec- 
tive, of  light  and  shade,  —  things  which  are  indirectly 
of  much    industrial   value,  while  they  lead   directly  to 
the  highest  artistic  results. 

8.  Drawing  with  instruments,  which  is  almost  wholly 
practical  in  its  applications,  can  and  should  be  taught 
in  the  public  schools.     While  the  great  object  is  to  train 


184  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

the  hand  and  eye,  to  teach  the  principles  of  design,  to 
discipline  the  judgment  and  cultivate  the  taste,  by 
freehand  drawing,  yet  the  industrial  applications  of 
drawing,  which  can  only  be  mastered  by  the  use  of 
instruments,  are  so  many,  and  so  exceedingly  important, 
that  the  ruler,  triangle,  compasses,  and  bow-pen,  if  noth- 
ing more,  should  find  a  place  in  all  public  schools 
except  the  primary.  The  evidence  shows  that  chil- 
dren from  ten  to  thirteen  years  of  age,  if  properly 
taught,  can  be  made  to  comprehend,  and  to  execute  with 
instruments,  not  only  linear  drawings,  based  on  plane 
geometry,  but  working-drawings,  which  involve  the 
principles  of  projection,  and  are  based  on  descriptive 
geometry.  It  is  very  essential  that  each  artisan  should 
know  enough  of  the  principles  of  projection  to  be  able 
at  least  to  read  the  working-drawings  which  are  placed 
in  his  hand,  if  he  has  not  skill  enough  to  make  such 
drawings.  Very  few  American  artisans,  whether  car- 
penters, ship-builders,  masons,  machinists,  or  others,  now 
know  enough  to  do  this ;  and  so  they  are  obliged  to 
work  under  constant  supervision,  and  at  reduced  wages. 
It  is  not  the  business  of  the  common  schools  to  make 
draughtsmen,  but  to  teach  all  enough  of  the  theory 
and  applications  of  projection  to  meet  this  universal 
want -of  artisans.  The  finished  draughtsmen  must  be 
the  product  of  the  special  schools.  A  knowledge  of 


DBATVING.  185 

perspective,  which  is  the  drawing  of  objects  as  they 
appear,  is  most  readily  obtained  after  a  knowledge  of 
projection  (orthographic),  which  is  the  drawing  of 
objects  as  they  are.  Even  the  artist,  therefore,  is 
served  by  a  knowledge  of  the  general  principles 
involved  in  working-drawings.  Again:  there  is  no 
one  of  either  sex  who  can  well  aiford  to  dispense 
with  the  peculiar  discipline  which  is  derived  from 
instrumental  drawing.  The  use  of  instruments  should 
alternate  with  freehand  practice. 

9.  The  pupils  should  not  be  wholly  dependent  on  the 
teacher  for  instruction,  as  some  have  thought  it  best 
they  should  be.  Above  the  primary  schools  a  printed 
text  should  go  with  all  the  copies  (whether  the  copies  are 
in  books  or  on  charts),  and  with  all  models  (whether  for 
freehand  or  instrumental  practice).  This  text,  carefully 
prepared,  will  afford  a  clearer  explanation  than  can  usu- 
ally be  given  off-hand  by  the  teacher;  and,  further,  the 
pupils  can  go  over  it  again  and  again  until  it  is  fully 
comprehended.  With  a  text  for  their  guidance,  the 
pupils  can  make  much  more  rapid  and  more  intelligent 
progress  than  they  can  possibly  make  without  it;  while 
the  labor  of  the  teacher  is  thereby  greatly  diminished. 
Even  with  a  good  text  in  the  hands  of  his  pupils,  the 
teacher  will  find  enough  to  do  in  the  teaching  of  draw- 
ing, as  he  finds  enough  to  do  in  teaching  arithmetic,  his 


186  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

pupils  having  a  book  for  their  guidance.  The  teacher 
must  often  give  dictation-exercises,  that  the  pupils  may 
learn  to  imagine  the  form  of  a  drawing  from  the  oral 
description,  as,  in  actual  life,  they  must  frequently 
imagine  the  forms  of  objects  from  oral  descriptions. 
The  pupils  having  executed  the  drawings,  each  according 
to  his  interpretation  of  the  oral  description,  the  teacher 
then  places  the  drawing  on  the  blackboard,  that  the 
pupils  may  see  whether  they  interpreted  the  oral  descrip- 
tion correctly.  Again  :  the  teacher  should  often  exercise 
the  pupils  in  reproducing  from  memory  drawings  previ- 
ously executed,  whether  from  flat  copies  or  from  models. 
But,  after  making  due  allowance  for  all  methods  and 
devices,  the  progress  of  the  pupils  will  be  greatly  u<  <•<  1- 
erated  if  each  has  a  text  telling  how  to  execute  tho 
given  exercises,  and  describing  the  principles  of  drawing 
and  designing.  Indeed,  it  should  never  be  forgotten 
that  one  of  the  great  objects  of  early  education  is  to 
teach  pupils  to  use  books  readily,  in  order  that  they  may 
continue  to  advance  in  their  studies  after  leaving  school, 
when  they  have  no  teacher  to  direct,  but  must  rely 
wholly  upon  books.  To-day  very  few  American  artisans 
are  able  to  obtain  instruction  from  even  the  best  pre- 
pared book,  because  they  find  it  so  difficult  to  interpret 
printed  language. 

10.  Like  the  flat  copies,  the  models  and  other  objects 


DRAWING.  187 

placed  before  the  pupils  should  be  the  most  beautiful  it 
is  possible  to  obtain.  Well-appointed  museums  which 
can  be  frequently  visited  by  the  pupils  will  greatly  aid 
in  the  development  of  correct  taste.  So,  too,  the  taste 
will  be  decidedly  influenced  by  the  architecture  which 
comes  under  the  daily  observation. 

11.  When  logical  demonstration  can  be  supple- 
mented, as  often  it  may  be,  by  graphic  demonstration, 
the  understanding  of  any  subject  is  always  rendered 
much  easier.  For  this  reason,  the  power  to  draw  is  of 
great  service  to  the  teacher,  and  should  be  acquired  by 
every  one  who  aims  .to  do  the  best  work  in  the  school- 
room. When  acquired,  it  should  be  frequently  used  for 
the  amusement  and  instruction  of  the  pupils  in  various 
branches  of  study. 

THE    FRENCH    IMPERIAL    COMMISSION. 

[See  Chap  2,  for  particulars  about  the  French  Imperial  Commission, 
to  whom  what  follows  for  a  number  of  pages  is  accredited.] 

In  his  evidence  before  the  commission,  Rev.  Father 
Baudiue,  assistant  superior  of  the  Christian  Brothers' 
School,  says :  — 

"A  scries  of  drawing  copy-books  was  published  in  1860,  adapted 
to  popularize  the  drawing  of  ornament  in  all  schools,  from  tho 
village  school  to  the  middle-class  school  of  large  towns.  In  tho 
method  adopted  in  giving  this  elementary  instruction  in  the  draw- 


188  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

ing  of  ornament,  care  is  taken  to  select  copies  on  good  grounds 
only ;  that  is  to  say,  either  on  the  score  of  taste  or  style.  Every 
study,  every  fragment,  has  a  name  attached  to  it,  giving  the  char- 
acter of  the  style  to  which  it  belongs.  Thus,  after  going  through 
the  course  of  copy-books,  the  pupil  can  easily  distinguish  between 
Grecian,  Roman,  Byzantine,  Gothic,  Renaissance,  &c.,  orders  of 
ornamentation,  and  is  even  sufficiently  advanced  to  make  an  origi- 
nal design  belonging  to  one  of  those  orders. 

"Drawing  from  the  cast,  and  modelling,  naturally  follows  on  that 
of  ornament;  but  the  little  time  which  the  junior  pupils  can  devote 
to  the  subject  permits  this  branch  to  be  carried  on  only  in  the  adult 
evening  classes.  To  ornamental  drawing  ought  to  be  added  geo- 
metrical drawing;  being  of  much  more  importance  to  the  working- 
classes.  The  method  adopted  in  teaching  fliis  subject  consists  in 
hanging  up  before  the  class  a  large  sheet,  four  feet  by  three,  con- 
taining copies  of  joiner's  work,  upholstery,  carpentry,  architecture, 
and  machines.  The  pupils  have  by  them  figured  sketches  of  these 
copies  so  as  to  be  able  to  reproduce  on  their  books  these  copies  to  any 
required  scale.  '  By  this  means,  a  class  of  from  fifty  to  sixty,  and  even 
a  hundred,  pupils  can  work  at  the  same  subject,  and  follow  the  ex- 
planations of  the  teacher.  To  facilitate  still  more  the  study  of  this 
subject,  and  in  order  that  the  pupils  may  have  a  better  knowledge 
of  what  objects  they  reproduce,  they  have  set  before  them  solid 
models  of  the  same  objects  as  are  on  the  large  sheets,  —  some  in 
wood,  others  in  plaster  or  cast  metal.  The  models  are  cut  by  vertical 
or  horizontal  planes ;  so  that  the  details  for  the  drawing  are  better 
understood.  To  these  models  others  are  added  to  be  handled  by 
the  pupils  themselves,  that  they  may  make  sketches  of  them, 
with  different  elevations  and  plans.  By  this  means  it  has  been 
found  possible  to  make  children  of  from  ten  to  thirteen  years  under- 
stand the  theory  of  projections." 


DRAWING.  189 

In  his  evidence  before  the  commission,  M.  Delahaye, 
director  of  the  Professional  School  at  Batignolles,  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  of  Head  Masters  of  the  Department 
of  the  Seine,  thus  expresses  himself:  — 

"  Great  importance  is  attached  to  the  teaching  of  drawing,  so 
much  so,  that  the  boys  of  seven  years  old  commence  to  learn  draw- 
ing at  the  same  time  that  they  begin  to  learn  to  write.  A  peculiar 
method  is  adopted  in  this  subject,  which  might,  with  advantage, 
be  adopted  in  the  primary  schools.  Paper  ruled  in  squares  is  used  ; 
so  that,  by  the  aid  merely  of  the  ruler  and  pen,  a  child  can  make 
many  different  drawings;  which,  it  must  be  confessed,  are  not 
very  artistic,  but  which  accustom  him  to  neatness,  give  him  a 
notion  of  symmetry,  and  educate  his  taste.  When  these  chil- 
dren come  afterwards  to  the  use  of  the  compass  and  bow-pen, 
and  to  tint  their  drawings,  their  hand  is  practised,  and  often  very 
skilful." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  commission,  M.  Bardin, 
professor  of  Industrial  Drawing  to  the  Communal 
Schools  of  the  City  of  Paris,  says  :  — 

"  All  the  models  that  are  put  before  them  are  accompanied  by 
a  descriptive  text.  Each  of  them  comprehends  and  retains  what  he 
studies.  He  can  work  alone.  The  professor  has  only  to  correct  the 
work,  or  to  explain  a  point  which  has  not  been  understood  at  first. 
These  models,  thus  explained,  have  an  immense  advantage  over  an 
engraving  which  does  not  even  bear  an  indication  of  the  drawing 
that  it  represents ;  besides  which,  a  text  accompanying  a  drawing 
16* 


190  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

is  always  more  precise  than  the  oral  description  that  the  master 
can  give  to  each  pupil,  and  helps  to  keep  alive  the  remembrance 
of  it." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  commission,  M.  Lequien, 
director  of  the  Communal  School  of  Drawing  in  the 
Rue  Meuilmontant,  Paris,  says  :  — 

"  I  believe  instruction  in  these  subjects  (linear  and  architectural 
drawing)  to  be  indispensable  to  all  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
furniture.  Cabinet-making  particularly  would  derive  great  bent-fir, 
both  as  regards  the  proportions,  elegance,  and  purity  of  form,  as 
well  as  regards  the  harmony  of  the  mouldings,  which  are  often  dis- 
proportionate, or  of  different  styles.  A  piece  of  furniture,  no 
matter  what  it  may  be,  —  whether  a  cabinet,  sideboard,  bed,  or 
console, —  is  nothing  but  an  edifice  applied  to  a  useful  purpose. 
Architectural  design  should  lule  the  whole  as  well  as  the  details ; 
and  it  is  from  the  judicious  combinations  of  these  elements,  arranged 
with  a  view  to  its  use,  that  it  derives  its  merit.  Furniture  dc-tim d 
for  repose  ought  to  be  of  simple  construction :  the  ornaments  with 
which  it  is  often  overloaded  appear  to  be  made  rather  to  hide  the 
clumsiness  of  its  form  than  to  embellish  it.  Ought  not  the  furniture 
of  a  room  to  agree  both  in  shape  and  color  with  the  architecture  ? 
It  is  a  whole,  each  part  of  which  should  be  in  harmony.  In  this 
last  part  of  the  work  the  architect  is  often  replaced  by  the  paper- 
hanger,  who,  having  no  architectural  or  decorative  knowledge, 
allows  himself  to  be  guided  by  the  extravagant  caprices  of  fashion 
or  by  a  traditional  routine.  Again  :  bronzes,  lustres,  candclabras, 
cups,  and  the  basement  of  a  clock,  may  all  be  considered  in  relation 
to  their  architectural  fitness.  Ceramic  art  borrows  its  first  and 


DRAWING.  191 

principal  value  from  form.  No  matter  how  great  the  merit  of  the 
paintings  which  ornament  porcelain,  it  is  the  proportion  and  the 
elegance  of  the  shape  which  ought  to  be  the  first  consideration. 
In  monumental  art,  statuary  itself  is  subordinate,  in  its  proportions 
and  its  effect,  to  the  laws  of  the  science  of  lines,  which  ought  to  pre- 
vail in  every  manufacture." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  commission,  M.  Gerar- 
don,  founder  and  director  of  the  Central  School  at 
Lyons,  professor  at  La  Martiniere  School,  says :  — 

"  The  method  by  which  descriptive  geometry  is  taught  is  also 
peculiar,  and  well  worthy  of  notice.  For  this  study  each  pupil  is 
furnished  with  a  small  tin  box  about  eight  inches  long,  four  inches 
broad,  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  depth.  This  box  is  rilled 
with  yellow  wax,  prepared  so  as  not  to  turn  hard.  It  represents 
to  the  pupil  the  horizontal  plane  of  projection.  The  edge  opposite 
to  him  is  the  ground  line ;  and  he  can  imagine  for  himself  the  plane 
of  elevation  passing  through  this  ground  line.  Small  strips  of  iron 
wire  serve  to  represent  lines  in  space,  the  projections  on  the  hori- 
zontal plane  by  laying  them  on  the  box,  and  those  on  the  plane  of 
elevation  by  fixing  them  on  the  edge  which  represents  the  ground 
line.  The  movement  of  these  strips  is  effected  by  direction  of  the 
teacher;  and  the  pupil  is  enabled  easily  to  understand  a  diagram  in 
descriptive  geometry. 

"  Instruction  in  drawing  consists  of  machine-drawing  in  perspec- 
tive and  projection,  as  well  as  of  the  method  of  tinting.  At  first 
the  pupil  draws  on  his  slate  to  facilitate  correction,  and  avoid  waste 
of  paper.  The  first  models  which  he  has  to  draw  from  are  figures  in 
iron  wire,  representing  cubes,  prisms,  pyramids,  &c. :  then  he  draws 


192         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

parts  of  machines,  and  finally  complete  machines.  Afterwards  he 
proceeds  to  drawing  projections,  first  in  figured  sketches,  and  then 
in  drawings  to  scale :  finally  he  completes  his  studies  by  learning 
to  tint.  The  pupils  are  arranged  in  a  circle  round  the  model, 
which  is  placed  on  a  stand  in  the  midst  of  them.  They  are  seated 
on  stools  carrying  a  stage  to  support  the  slate  or  drawing-board. 
There  is  also  a  class  for  modelling  and  moulding;  but  it  is  not 
numerously  attended.  .  .  . 

"  At  the  Central  School,  as  at  La  Martiniere,  the  pupil,  from  his 
first  entrance,  begins  to  draw  in  perspective  from  models  :  then  he 
passes  quickly  to  projection,  which  is  more  closely  connected  with 
the  labor  of  the  workshop.  As  soon  as  he  has  acquired  sufficient 
skill,  the  following  plan  is  pursued :  A  model  is  placed  before  twelve 
or  fourteen  pupils ;  the  teacher  takes  it  to  pieces  before  them,  ex- 
plains the  principal  arrangements,  draws  attention  to  the  different 
forms,  and,  after  having  given  all  necessary  explanations,  removes 
the  model.  The  pupil  must  then  execute  from  memory,  and  with- 
out instruments,  sketches  of  the  whole,  and  of  the  details  and 
sections  required  by  the  teacher.  When  the  time  fixed  for  the  exe- 
cution of  this  drawing  from  memory  has  elapsed,  the  model  is  re- 
placed before  the  pupils :  the  teacher  points  out  the  corrections  to 
be  made ;  and  a  pupil  placed  close  to  the  model  takes  all  the  meas- 
urements, and  dictates  the  dimensions.  The  model  is  once  more 
removed ;  and  from  the  sketch  the  pupil  must  now  make  a  drawing 
to  scale.  This  kind  of  work,  and  a  little  drawing  of  ornament,  and 
practice  in  tinting,  constitute  the  study  of  the  first  year.  During 
the  second  and  third  year,  the  pupils,  while  continuing  from  time 
to  time  the  drawing  from  memory,  pass  on  to  another  kind  of  study. 
Drawings  of  machines  are  given  to  them,  but  not  to  be  servilely 
copied :  they  are  required  to  draw  a  section  on  a  line  marked  on  the 


DRAWING.  193 

drawing.  In  this  way  the  pupil  can  never  copy  a  drawing  without 
understanding  it :  he  must  analyze  it  in  all  its  particulars  for  him- 
self. To  others,  again,  is  given  a  drawing, — as,  for  example,  of  a 
steam-engine,  —  taken  from  some  work  on  machinery,  together  with 
the  text  which  accompanies  it.  The  teacher  explains  to  the  pupil 
a  certain  portion  of  the  machine,  —  the  cylinder,  for  instance,  — with 
the  arrangement  of  its  parts  :  the  latter  must  then  draw  every  piece 
of  it  (as  if  it  were  taken  completely  to  pieces)  to  a  certain  fixed  scale. 
When  this  work  is  finished,  the  copy  is  removed ;  and  the  pupil 
must  proceed  to  draw  the  whole  from  the  drawings  which  he  has 
already  made  of  the  parts.  In  these  two  divisions  the  young  men 
are  also  practised  in  making  designs  of  parts  of  machines  accord- 
ing to  the  principles  of  the  strength  of  materials,  which  they  have 
learned  in  school ;  designs  for  hoilers  according  to  the  principles 
of  physics;  designs  of  machines  or  of  buildings  of  all  kinds,  as 
applications  of  the  sciences  which  they  have  studied  at  school. 
As  a  supplement  to  the  study  of  drawing,  the  pupils  of  the 
second  and  third  years  visit,  every  Thursday,  certain  manufac- 
tories which  are  fixed  upon,  and  must  bring  back  figured  sketches 
of  some  of  the  machines  :  these  they  must  afterwards  reproduce  as 
finished  drawings  to  scale.  Afterwards,  from  all  these  drawings, 
a  selection  is  made  of  those  which  possess  most  interest,  or  are  of 
the  greatest  utility ;  and,  these  being  lithographed,  an  album  is 
made,  intended  specially  for  the  use  of  the  pupils  of  the  school." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  commission,  M.  Malet, 
professor  at  the  Imperial  Artillery  School  at  Douai, 
says : — 

"  The  class  in  drawing  meets  every  day  from  half-past  twelve  to 
two  o'clock.  Formerly  it  used  to  meet  from  five  to  seven  ;  and  prob- 
17 


194  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

ably  the  old  arrangement  will  be  resumed,  as  it  had  the  advantage  of 
accustoming  the  pupils  to  draw  both  by  artificial  light  and  by  day- 
light. The  class  contains  about  seventy  or  eighty  pupils,  of  from 
thirteen  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  As  to  the  method  of  instruction, 
it  is  that  which  is  generally  adopted  :  the  basis  is  the  study  of  the 
figure,  and  effect  is  obtained  by  line  shading.  But  this  method, 
though  good  in  principle,  is,  in  the  opinion  of  M.  Malct,  not  one 
which  is  to  be  recommended  for  those  who  are  not  fine-art  students, 
but  have  need  of  the  power  of  sketching  rapidly  and  accurately. 
He  would  wish  to  see  introduced  three  divisions  —  one  preparatory, 
another  industrial,  and  the  third  artistic  —  for  the  students  who  wish 
to  become  artists,  and  aspire  to  the  Fine  Art  School  (Ecole  des 
Beaux  Arts)." 

In  his  evidence  before  the  commission  M.  Gouin, 
civil  engineer,  Paris,  says  :  — 

"Nothing  is  more  difficult  to  form  than  a  machine  designer  and 
mechanical  engineer.  A  hundred  engineers  for  making  railways  can 
be  found  before  one  who  can  make  a  good  machine  is  discovered. 
To  become  a  good  mechanical  engineer  great  patience  is  required  : 
five  or.  six  years  must  be  passed  in  a  drawing  office,  and  a  year 
or  two  in  making  tracings,  so  as  to  know  a  machine  as  a  whole,  as 
well  as  its  details,  and  not  to  be  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  calcu- 
lation or  drawings  to  know  how  to  trace  a  piece  which  has  to  be 
made.  Just  as  an  artist  is  not  compelled  to  measure  every  time 
the  proportion  of  the  head  to  the  body  to  make  a  correct  study  of 
the  figure,  but  has  it  all  in  his  eye,  so  a  machine  designer  ought  to 
have  in  his  head  all  the  relations  of  the  different  parts  of  a  machine. 
This  knowledge  is  only  acquired  after  a  prolonged  examination  of 
excellent  models." 


DRAWING.  195 

In  their  elaborate  report,  based  upon  their  wide  in- 
vestigations, the  Imperial  Commission  say :  — 

"  One  immediate  conclusion  from  the  facts  above  stated  is,  that 
drawing,  in  all  its  applications,  may  and  must  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  simplest  and  most  direct  means  which  technical  education 
can  employ;  since  it  renders  visible  to  the  eye,  and  perceptible  to 
the  mind,  most  of  the  propositions  of  elementary  and  descriptive 
geometry  with  their  applications,  and  likewise  affords  the  means  of 
submitting  to  calculation  many  mechanical  phenomena  and  the  pro- 
portions of  the  constituent  parts  of  machines.  Moreover,  in  all 
that  concerns  the  art  of  construction,  drawing  familiarizes  the 
pupil  with  execution  and  with  the  proportions  which  science  or 
practice  have  sanctioned. 

"  All  these  considerations  have  led  the  commission  to  propose:  — 

"  1.  That,  for  the  instruction  of  apprentices  and  workmen,  it  is 
advisable  to  encourage,  in  preference  to  purely  oral  lectures,  the 
establishment  of  regular  classes  to  be  held  especially  on  Sundays 
or  in  the  evenings  of  working-days. 

"  2.  That  this  teaching  should  not  be  at  all  dogmatical,  but 
should  make  it  a  rule  to  explain  in  the  simplest  possible  manner 
the  principles  of  science  by  the  aid  of  facts,  and  by  showing  their 
application. 

"3.  Lastly,  that  drawing,  with  all  its  applications  to  the  differ- 
ent industrial  arts,  should  be  considered  as  the  principal  means  to 
be  employed  in  technical  instruction.  .  .  . 

"  Drawing  is,  in  all  branches  of  industrial  art,  a  means  so  evident, 
so  useful,  and  so  indispensable  for  embodying  the  conceptions  of 
the  mind,  for  studying  and  fixing  the  forms  to  be  given  to  produc- 
tions, for  rendering  the  creative  idea,  that  there  can  be  no  need  of 


196  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

insisting  on  the  necessity  of  developing  that  branch  of  instruction 
which  has  for  its  object  the  diffusion  of  such  an  acquirement  among 
artisans  of  every  class.  This  necessity,  which  has  long  been  deeply 
felt  in  France,  has  led  to  the  multiplication,  in  the  great  industrial 
centres,  of  schools  for  art  and  scientific  drawing,  which,  while  offer- 
ing to  the  national  taste  the  means  of  manifesting  itself,  have 
hitherto  secured  to  French  industry  a  great  superiority  in  a  largo 
portion  of  its  manufactures. 

"  The  Universal  Exhibition  of  1855,  and  especially  that  of  Lon- 
don in  1862,  have  clearly  shown  the  results  which  England  has 
already  obtained  from  the  immense  efforts  —  among  others  the 
establishment  of  the  splendid  museum  at  Kensington  —  she  has 
made,  ever  since  1852,  to  deprive  France  of  that  superiority  in  tho 
works  of  industrial  art,  which  the  first  exhibition  of  1852  had  proved 
to  be  indisputable.  Soon  after  this  exhibition,  the  most  competent 
judges  in  England,  far  from  refusing  to  acknowledge  the  pre-emi- 
nence of  our  artists  over  theirs,  publicly  proclaimed  it;  and,  with 
the  promptitude  and  active  energy  peculiar  to  their  nation,  they  set 
about  diffusing  through  all  classes  of  society  a  taste  for  drawing  and 
the  arts,  not  only  among  working-men  and  artists,  but  also  among 
the  general  public. 

"  The  English  Government,  abandoning  its  principle  of  non- 
intervention in  home  administration,  decided  at  this  period  on 
taking  up  the  general  organization  of  art  education,  and  formed 
in  the  privy  council,  a  new  section  under  the  name  of  '  Science  and 
Art  Department,'  especially  charged  with  propagating  the  study  of 
drawing. 

"  The  institutions  dependent  on  the  Science  and  Art  Department 
are  divided  into  two  categories  :  — 

"  '  1.  Public  Teaching :  Schools  of  art  and  local  associations  of  pri- 


DRAWING.  197 

mary  schools  for  teaching  drawing  ;  annual  inspections  of  the  local 
schools  and  primary  schools  combined  in  associations ;  annual  local 
competitions;  Central  Museum  at  Kensington;  loans  of  models  and 
books  on  art  from  the  museum  to  local  schools  ;  exhibition  in  the 
localities  of  the  articles  thus  lent;  pecuniary  grants  to  the  local 
schools  for  purchasing  models,  and,  in  certain  cases,  towards  the 
expense  of  first  establishment. 

"  '  2.  Training  of  Art  Masters:  Examinations  of  fitness,  and 
graduated  certificates ;  free  admission  of  exhibitioners  from  the 
schools  of  art,  and  of  pupil-teachers  intended  to  become  art-masters  ; 
normal  school  of  art;  certificates  of  fitness  to  teach  elementary 
drawing,  given  upon  examination  to  primary  school-teachers  of 
either  sex/ 

"Notwithstanding  this  organization,  which  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate that  the  Art  Department  has  become  a  sort  of  university  for 
teaching  drawing,  acting  like  the  French  University  for  Literature 
and  Science,  the  action  of  the  department  is  limited  to  encouraging 
local  or  private  foundations,  to  directing  their  efforts,  to  preparing 
and  training  capable  teachers,  and  to  indicating  by  general  pro- 
grammes the  proper  course  to  be  followed. 

"  The  summary  programme  of  the  central  schools  of  drawing  is 
as  follows :  — 

"  '  1 .  Elementary  Course :  Geometrical  drawing,  linear  perspec- 
tive, free-hand  drawing  with  shading,  drawing  from  reliefs, 
figure-drawing  from  lithographed  or  engraved  models,  principle 
of  water-color  drawing. 

"  '  2.  Superior  Course :  Drawing  from  relief,  painting,  ornaments, 
flowers,  still  life,  landscape. 

"'3.  Special  or  Technical  Course:  Art  anatomy,  elementary  com- 
position, designing,  modelling,  architectural  and  machine  drawing.' 
17* 


198         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"  MM.  Marguerin  and  Mothere's  remarkable  report,  from 
which  we  have  copied  the  above,  contains  very  complete  informa- 
tion respecting  all  this  organization,  which,  iu  1861,  taught  draw- 
ing to  91,836  pupils,  more  or  less  advanced. 

"Everybody  knows  the  magnificent  Art  Museum  at  South  Ken- 
sington, for  the  founding  of  which  the  Science  and  Art  Department 
has  collected  from  all  quarters  masterpieces  of  every  kind,  at  a 
total  expense  to  the  State  of  not  less  than  a  million  pounds  sterling 
since  1852.  Besides  this  outlay  for  first  establishment,  the  Art  De- 
partment has  a  yearly  grant  of  eighty  thousand  pounds  sterling. 

"  By  the  extent  of  the  resources  placed  at  the  disposal  of  this 
special  and  new  department,  created  for  the  purpose  of  enabling 
English  industry  to  compete  with  ours,  an  opinion  may  be  formed 
of  the  importance  rightly  attributed  in  England  to  the  participation 
of  the  art  of  design  in  all  industrial  productions.  .  .  . 

"  England  is  not  the  only  rival  of  French  industry  which  has 
recognized  its  superiority  with  regard  to  works  which  require  the 
aid  of  art  and  taste.  Germany,  moved  by  the  same  sentiment,  has 
organized,  since  1852,  at  less  cost,  but  perhaps  with  as  much  success, 
drawing-schools  of  different  degrees.  In  all  the  practical  schools 
and  in  the  polytechnic  institutions,  the  teaching  of  drawing  holds 
a  prominent  place.  .  .  . 

"  The  drawing-school  which  is  justly  regarded  as  the  best  in 
Central  Germany  is  that  of  Nuremberg,  the  director  of  which  has 
laid  down  the  principle,  that,  to  become  a  skilful  industrial  artist, 
it  is  indispensable  first  to  study  art  in  all  its  varieties.  Under  his 
energetic  supervision  a  great  number  of  professors  and  artists  have 
been  trained,  who  have  disseminated  good  methods,  and  have 
brought  about  in  the  productions  of  industry,  especially  in  those 
of  Nuremberg,  a  most  remarkable  artistic  improvement.  .  .  . 


DRAWING,  199 

"  If  the  teaching  of  the  art  of  drawing,  considered  as  a  whole, 
and  with  its  principal  varieties,  should  be  regarded  from  a  generally 
elevated  point  of  view,  even  when  the  sole  object  is  its  application 
to  the  works  of  industry,  it  is  advisable  that  the  pupils  should  suc- 
cessively cultivate  the  higher  branches,  —  the  human  figure,  archi- 
tecture, ornament,  modelling,  and  sculpture  on  wood  and  stone; 
so  that  one  and  the  same  composition  or  subject  may  be  conceived, 
treated,  and  executed  by  the  same  artist.  To  provide  against  the  prin- 
cipal idea  of  a  work  being  either  weakened  or  entirely  lost,  the  artist 
should  be  so  far  instructed  in  the  different  branches  as  not  to  be 
obliged,  as  some  historical  painters  have  been  in  times  past,  to  get 
the  architecture  of  their  buildings  drawn  by  one  assistant,  the  land- 
scape by  a  second,  and  sometimes  the  horses  by  a  third.  The  his- 
tory of  the  art  and  of  the  styles  which  have  prevailed,  and  characterize 
the  productions  of  different  epochs,  ought  also  to  be  the  object  of 
serious  study;  so  that  the  artist  may  not  be  in  danger  of  jumbling 
together  in  the  same  production  the  forms  and  ornaments  belong- 
ing to  very  different  periods  and  styles,  as  was  the  case  with  many 
of  the  English  exhibitors  in  1862.  On  this  account,  the  demand  for 
the  founding  of  a  superior  school  of  industrial  art,  made  in  1850  by 
the  leading  Parisian  artists,  appears  to  be  well  founded. 

"  Besides  the  study  of  artistic  drawing,  properly  so  called,  that 
of  linear  drawing,  based  on  geometrical  principles,  has  also  been 
widely  extended  in  Germany.  Descriptive  geometry  is  taught  ele- 
mentarily, and  with  entirely  practical  applications,  in  the  drawing- 
classes  opened  for  artisans :  there  they  also  acquire  the  theory  of 
projections.  .  .  . 

"Independently  of  the  question  of  taste  and  art,  which  is  of  such 
vital  importance  for  a  great  number  of  the  higher  branches  of 
French  industry,  there  is  also  a  necessity,  as  many  of  the  members 


200  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

of  the  commission  have  remarked,  for  introducing  first  into  the 
primary  schools,  then  into  the  technical  classes  of  all  kinds,  the 
teaching  and  practice  of  geometrical  drawing.  This  subject 
presents  for  the  instruction  of  artisans  the  twofold  advantage  of 
giving  the  exact  representation  of  the  forms  and  proportions  of 
objects,  and  the  not  less  important  one  of  supplying  with  the  aid 
of  models  and  simple  apparatus,  in  a  great  number  of  cases,  a  direct 
means  of  demonstration.  »  From  this  point  of  view,  the  teaching 
of  geometrical  drawing  may  be  considered  as  a  most  effective  aux- 
iliary means  in  the  method  adopted  for  the  technical  instruction 
of  workmen.  Convinced  of  this  truth,  the  commission  expressed 
the  following  opinion  :  — 

" '  The  commission  attaches  great  importance  to  extending  the 
teaching  of  geometrical  drawing  as  well  in  primary  schools  as  in 
establishments  devoted  to  technical  instruction.  It  regards  geomet- 
rical drawing  as  a  most  useful  training  for  the  practice  of  various 
trades,  and  as  an  excellent  means  of  direct  demonstration.' " 

The  English  editor  of  the  report,  as  printed  by  the 
English  Government,  adds  a  note  to  the  following 
effect :  — 

"  It  may  be  remarked,  however,  that,  in  instruction  in  linear  and 
machine  drawing,  we  are  much  behind  the  countries  of  the  Conti- 
nent. It  is  not  unusual  to  find  in  the  drawing-offices  of  our  great 
machine-works  foreign  draughtsmen.  One  of  the  reasons  for  this, 
no  doubt,  is  the  smaller  rate  of  wages  at  which  they  can  be 
obtained ;  but  it  seems,  also,  that  the  special  instruction  they  have 
received  in  really  scientific  drawing  gives  them  great  advantage  over 
the  English  draughtsman,  who  has  studied  his  art  only  by  rule  of 


DRAWING.  201 

thumb.  A  reference  to  the  table  of  the  attendance  at  the  govern- 
ment science  classes  will  show,  that,  since  the  year  1864,  the  number 
of  students  attending  the  three  drawing  subjects  —  practical  and 
descriptive  geometry,  machine  construction  and  drawing,  and  build- 
ing construction  and  drawing  —  has  steadily  and  considerably  in- 
creased. When  practically  and  scientifically  taught,  the  subject 
of  descriptive  geometry  takes  the  place  of  mathematics  in  the  tech- 
nical training  of  those,  who,  from  their  limited  elementary  education, 
cannot  appreciate  the  value  of  rigid  mathematical  proof,  nor  com- 
prehend the  use  of  formulae." 

The  sub-commission  of  the  French  Imperial  Com- 
mission, appointed  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  technical 
instruction  in  Germany  and  Switzerland,  say  in  their 
general  report :  — 

"  We  may  add  as  a  general  fact,  that,  in  all  kinds  of  technical 
instruction  whatever,  freehand  and  linear  drawing  rightly  hold  a 
prominent  place  ;  that  they  serve  as  a  means  of  teaching  by  afford- 
ing ocular  demonstration  of  many  matters  which  could  scarcely  be 
well  understood  by  merely  mental  effort.  As  for  the  methods  fol- 
lowed for  this  special  teaching,  that  which  — without  exception,  from 
the  high  school  of  Nuremberg  to  the  humblest  village  classes  in 
Wurtemberg  —  has  always  and  everywhere  been  most  successful  is 
the  one  proposed  by  the  late  M.  Dupuis,  which  has  been  too  much 
neglected  in  France.  It  consists,  as  everybody  knows,  in  making 
the  pupils,  either  at  the  very  outset,  or  after  a  few  attempts  at  copy- 
ing model  drawings  (to  give  freedom  to  the  hand,  and  accustom  it 
to  act  in  accord  with  the  eye),  draw  from  subjects  in  relief:  at  first 
very  simple,  then  combined  and  varied  in  position  ;  rising  gradually 


202  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

from  subjects  of  ornaments  in  relief  to  drawing  from  the  round  or 
from  nature.  With  a  few  unimportant  modifications,  this  system  is 
found  in  nearly  all  the  schools  of  Germany.  Persuaded  as  we  are  that 
one  of  the  first  and  most  important  measures  to  be  taken  in  organ- 
izing industrial  education  consists  in  teaching  everywhere  the  art 
of  drawing,  we  feel  bound  at  once  to  call  attention  to  the  choice  of 
this  method." 

In  their  special  report  on  Austria,  the  sub-commis- 
sion say:  — 

"Drawing  is  taught  in  the  earliest  classes  from  models  in  relief; 
and  no  copying  is  allowed,  except  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  pupils 
to  handle  the  pencil  at  the  very  outset.  In  the  first  year,  the  pupils  of 
the  first  class,  eleven  years  of  age,  practise  freehand  and  elementary 
geometrical  drawing,  and  make  sketches  of  solid  bodies  and  of  geo- 
metrical forms,  after  models  like  those  used  in  the  Dupuis  method. 
The  use  of  rule  and  compasses  is  not  permitted.  They  thus  con- 
tinue freehand  drawings  of  ornaments  from  casts,  make  copies  of 
heads,  and  finish  by  drawing  from  the  round.  In  the  third  class, 
which  contains  pupils  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  drawing 
receives  considerable  extension,  especially  with  regard  to  its  appli- 
cation to  the  practice  of  the  trades  the  pupils  intend  to  follow. 
With  this  view,  special  care  is  taken  to  make  each  pupil  execute 
the  designs  which  are  most  likely  to  be  useful  to  him.  For  teaching 
descriptive  geometry,  much  use  is  made  of  rectangular  planes  and 
pins,  which  render  sensible  to  the  eye  all  the  rules  of  the  projec- 
tions. This,  in  fact,  is  the  mode  of  teaching  which  has  been  pro- 
posed and  employed  by  M.  Olivier,  professor  at  the  Conservatory 
of  Arts  and  Trades.  His  apparatus  consists  of  two  wooden  planes 


DRAWING.  203 

articulated  with  hinges,  and  covered  with  cork,  in  which  the  pins 
are  stuck  to  represent  the  lines  of  projection. 

"  The  choice  and  number  of  the  subjects  treated  in  the  three- 
years'  studies  are  such  that  the  young  men  who  intend  to  follow 
the  practical  industries  of  constructing  buildings  or  machines  may 
obtain  in  the  lower  practical  schools  sufficient  instruction  to  become 
master-builders,  capable  of  understanding  the  plans  to  be  executed, 
and  of  representing  their  own  ideas  in  drawings.  These  lower 
schools  are,  therefore,  well  adapted  for  giving  the  pupils  the  theo- 
retical instruction  calculated  to  make  them  clever  master-workmen, 
foremen,  and  conductors  of  works,  when  they  shall  have  acquired 
the  practical  part  of  their  trades  in  workshops  and  building-yards. 
The  pupils  who  wish  to  continue  their  studies  pass  on  to  the  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth  classes,  in  which  the  teaching  of  drawing  is  at  once 
theoretical  and  practical.  .  .  . 

"  Of  all  the  practical  schools  in  Germany,  that  of  Prague  is  cer- 
tainly the  one  where  linear  drawing  is  best  taught;  and  we  are 
inclined  to  attribute  this  fact  to  the  attention  given  from  the  very 
outset  to  the  practice  of  freehand  drawing,  which  early  habituates 
the  pupil  to  trace  his  lines  with  a  light  hand." 

In  their  special  report  on  Bavaria,  the  sub-commis- 
sion say  of  Nuremberg :  — 

"  In  this  town,  so  noted  for  its  various  manufactures,  there  are 
several  drawing-schools  of  different  degrees,  according  to  the  trade 
the  pupils  intend  to  follow.  The  first  and  most  important  is  the 
higher  school  of  industrial  drawing  conducted  by  M.  Kroling.  It 
is  justly  regarded  in  Germany  as  the  one  which  has  rendered  most 
service  to  industry.  In  order  that  the  pupils  may,  in  a  few  years; 


204  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

acquire  some  real  skill,  none  are  admitted  but  those  who  havo 
already  attained  considerable  proficiency.  The  principle  adopted 
by  the  professor  of  this  school  is,  that,  in  order  to  form  good  in- 
dustrial draughtsmen,  the  pupils  must  pass  through  all  the  dinars 
of  artistic  drawing ;  so  that  they  may  be  able,  in  the  very  varied  and 
different  combinations  required  by  manufacturers,  to  blend  judi- 
ciously and  harmoniously  all  the  various  kinds,  without  there  being 
any  necessity,  as  too  often  happens,  for  having  recourse  to  one  artist 
for  the  architectural  part,  to  another  for  the  figures,  and  to  a  third 
for  the  ornaments,  &c. 

"As  for  the  method  of  teaching,  it  is  exclusively  based  on  draw- 
ing from  models  in  relief,  graduated  according  to  the  proficiency 
of  the  learners,  and  advancing  from  the  simplest  models  to  the 
finest  left  by  ancient  art,  and  then  to  nature.  The  talented  director 
expresses  his  antipathy  to  copying  from  lithographs,  which  he 
regards  as  caligraphy,  not  drawing.  In  accordance  witli  these 
principles,  he  has  formed  for  his  pupils  very  fine  and  very  complete 
collections  of  models.  The  teaching  is  distributed  in  three  divis- 
ions:  1.  Drawing  of  ornament;  2.  Drawing  from  the  antique ; 
3.  Drawing  from  nature.  After  attaining  proficiency  in  drawing, 
the  pupils  pass  on  to  modelling  and  sculpture  in  wood  and  stone: 
then,  as  soon  as  they  have  attained  a  certain  degree  of  skill,  they 
have  to  compose  designs,  and  to  model  and  carve  them. 

"  The  general  opinion  of  the  persons  who  have  made  a  study  of 
questions  connected  with  teaching,  not  only  in  Bavaria,  but  also 
in  other  parts  of  Germany,  is,  that  the  Nuremberg  school  has  con- 
tributed more  than  any  other  to  the  progress  of  the  national  in- 
dustry. This  progress  is  especially  manifest  in  the  very  decided 
improvement  in  the  manufacture  of  children's  toys,  which  are  one 
of  the  staple  productions  of  the  country.  For  some  years  past,  the 


DRAWING.  205 

improvement  in  the  forms  of  the  articles,  whether  moulded  in  clay, 
or  sculptured  in  wood,  with  which  the  Nuremberg  manufacturers 
supply  the  shops  of  Paris,  has  shown  us  that  great  progress  must 
have  been  made  in  the  teaching  of  drawing ;  and  ample  confirmation 
of  this  opinion  may  be  obtained  on  visiting  the  higher  drawing- 
schools  of  this  town.  The  Parisian  manufacturers,  though  superior 
in  other  matters  dependent  on  the  arts  of  design,  are,  with  regard 
to  children's  toys,  very  inferior  to  the  Nuremberg  artisans. 

"  As  a  preparation  for  the  higher  drawing-school,  there  is  an 
elementary  school,  with  courses  occupying  two  years.  The  first, 
of  eight  hours  per  week,  is  entirely  devoted  to  freehand  draw- 
ing, beginning  with  exercises  on  straight  lines  and  curves,  on  plane 
surfaces,  on  symmetrical  and  regular  bodies,  and  on  simplex  and 
complex  ornaments,  finishing  with  compositions.  The  second 
course,  of  six  hours  per  week,  is  devoted  to  drawing  ornaments, 
to  drawing  from  the  round,  from  the  antique,  and  also  to  drawing 
furniture." 

In  their  special  report  on  Wurtemberg,  the  sub-com- 
mission say :  — 

"  One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  the  primary  schools 
of  Wurtemberg  is  the  extraordinary  attention  paid  to  the  teaching 
of  drawing.  The  Department  of  Trade  and  Manufactures  has  per- 
suaded the  Ministry  of  Public  Instruction  and  Worship  to  add 
classes  for  industrial  drawing  to  all  these  schools  ;  and  the  ministry 
has  had  the  wisdom  to  leave  to  that  department  the  care  of  organ- 
izing and  superintending  their  progress.  They  were  founded,  aftei 
the  Universal  Exhibition  of  1851,  to  enable  the  manufacturers  of 
the  country  to  compete  with  France  in  the  industrial  arts.  These 
18 


206  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

schools  were  at  first  gratuitous ;  but  experience  proved  that  at- 
tendance was  better  secured  by  requiring  a  small  payment,  varying, 
according  to  the  means  of  parents,  from  half  a  florin  to  twelve 
florins  a  yean 

"  The  teachers  are,  as  far  as  possible,  chosen  from  among  the 
workmen  or  masters  of  the  chief  industries  of  the  place,  who,  hav- 
ing been  taught  in  the  same  schools,  have  there  acquired  the 
requisite  knowledge.  But  these  workmen  thus  made  teachers  do  not 
abandon  their  trades,  and  receive  only  an  indemnity  of  about  two 
florins  per  hour's  lesson.  They  generally  give  three  a  week,  of  two 
hours  each,  —  from  seven  to  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening.  At  Geiss- 
lingen,  for  instance,  there  is  a  school  where  a  hundred  and  eighty 
scholars  are  taught  by  a  master  mason.  In  more  than  one  parish 
the  heads  of  establishments  have  so  well  appreciated  the  importance 
of  this  instruction,  that  they  themselves  send  their  young  work- 
men and  apprentices  to  the  schools.  It  has  been  remarked  that 
artists  of  considerable  talent  have  not  succeeded  so  well  as  masters, 
as  mere  artisans ;  which  proves  that  there  would  not  be  so  much 
difficulty  as  is  supposed  in  expeditiously  training  teachers  for  this 
kind  of  schools. 

"  The  Department  of  Trade  has  adopted  examples  to  be  used  in 
all  these  schools,  of  which  the  first  series,  intended  for  beginners, 
consists  of  lithographs,  easy,  and  few  in  number,  merely  for  prac- 
tice, —  to  give  freedom  to  the  hand  while  accustoming  the  pupil  to 
guide  it  by  the  eye.  The  next  step  for  the  pupils  is  to  draw  from 
plaster  models,  graduated  from  the  most  simple  figures  to  the  finest 
casts  from  the  antique,  which  are  reserved  for  the  principal  schools. 
These  models  are  supplied  by  an  artist  of  Stuttgart,  according  to  a 
tariff  approved  by  the  Department  of  Trade.  They  are  delivered 
by  him  to  the  parish  schools,  which  pay  for  them  ;  but,  at  the  end 


DRAWING.  207 

of  the  year,  the  department  pays  back  to  the  schools  one  half  the 
sum  so  disbursed.  Besides  these  models  in  relief,  the  Department 
of  Trade  has  formed  a  collection  of  the  best  publications  on 
industrial  art,  from  the  most  costly  to  the  humblest  albums  of 
furniture,  cabinet-work,  bronzes,  &c.  It  distributes  these  works 
throughout  the  country,  lending  them  to  the  masters  of  the  schools 
for  a  certain  period,  —  usually  one  month.  They  must  be  returned 
in  fair  condition ;  and  any  damage  suffered  must  be  made  good. 

"  Every  other  year,  the  schools  send  to  Stuttgart  a  collection 
of  their  drawings  of  all  kinds  for  exhibition;  after  which  prizes  are 
given  to  those  which  sent  the  finest  productions.  The  masters 
themselves  are  invited  to  attend  this  exhibition,  and  to  control  the 
awards  made.  From  among  the  most  skilful  masters  a  certain 
number  are  chosen,  who  during  the  vacation,  or  at  other  times,  go 
round  to  the  schools  as  occasional  inspectors,  and  suggest  improve- 
ments to  the  musters  ;  sometimes  even  giving  them  private  lessons. 

"Drawing  also  forms  part  of  the  instruction  given  in  the  normal 
school  for  primary  teachers ;  so  that  they  may  be  able  thereafter  to 
teach  their  pupils  the  first  elements.  A  few  of  the  pupils  who  have 
shown  most  skill  and  taste  arc  sent  to  the  Superior  Art  School  at 
Nuremberg. 

"  Thus  there  have  been  established  in  the  kingdom  of  Wurtem- 
berg  more  than  four  hundred  drawing-schools ;  and  this  organiza- 
tion, which  does  not  date  back  more  than  ten  years,  has  already  led 
to  very  decided  improvements  in  the  manufactures  of  the  country. 

"  It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  designers  trained  in  these 
schools,  if  they  evince  any  considerable  degree  of  taste  and  inven- 
tion, easily  find  occupation  in  their  own  country.  The  more  dis- 
tinguished among  them  are  sometimes  sent  to  France  for  improve- 
ment. Great  emulation  exists  among  the  teachers  and  professors 


208         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

of  drawing ;  and,  besides  the  biennial  exhibitions  made  by  order  of 
the  government,  an  association  has  been  formed  by  the  masters,  which, 
aided  by  voluntary  contributions,  has  raised  a  fund  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  regular  exhibitions  of  all  the  pupils'  drawings,  and 
for  awarding  prizes." 

The  Imperial  Commission,  in  their  summary  of  the 
Inquiry  on  Professional  Education,  say  :  — 

"Among  all  the  branches  of  instruction,  which  in  different 
degrees,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  grade,  can  contribute  to  the 
technical  education  of  either  sex,  draiving,  in  all  its  forms  and  (i/i/i/i- 
cations,  has  been  almost  unanimously  regarded  as  t/ie  one  which  it  is  most 
important  to  make  common." 

REPLIES    TO    LORD    STANLEY'S    CIRCULAR. 
[See  Chap.  n.  for  the  particulars  ahout  Lord  Stanley's  circular  letter.] 

Mr.  Ward,  answering  from  Hamburg  (Germany), 
says,  giving  the  director  of  the  Hamburg  Trade  School 
as  authority :  — 

"  Free  drawing  without  instruments  begins  with  drawing  from 
wooden  models,  according  to  Heimerdinger's  method,  in  which 
simple  objects,  such  as  tools  used  by  joiners,  engineers,  £c.,  are 
included ;  attention  being  paid  to  the  vocation  of  the  pupil  in  the 
choice  of  the  models.  Ornamental  drawing  from  plaster  casts,  in 
outline,  and  in  respect  to  shading,  then  follows.  Those  pupils  who 
devote  themselves  to  building  or  ornamental  trades  study  the  figure 
from  casts  and  anatomy.  The  metal-workers  draw  freely,  without 
instruments,  portions  of  machinery,  &c.  The  mode  of  execution 


DBA  WING.  209 

(which  is  with  lead-pencil,  pen,  brush,  and  rubber)  is  always  the  most 
suitable  to  the  branch  of  technical  art  to  which  the  pupil  intends  to 
devote  himself.  In  close  connection  with  this  style  of  drawing  are 
the  exercises  in  ornamental  design.  Plants,  flowers,  and  leaves 
are  drawn  from  life ;  and  these  drawings  are  used  in  designing.  By 
these  exercises  the  pupils  become  very  soon  independent  of  all  help. 
Geometrical  drawings  are  executed  from  large  copies.  The 
teachers  explain  the  perfect  principles  of  construction,  and  pay 
special  attention  to  exactness  in  execution.  When  the  pupil  has 
acquired  confidence  in  the  use  of  his  instruments,  and  has  mastered 
the  essential  principles,  the  measuring  and  drawing  of  some  simple 
and  more  complicated  bodies  follows.  This  class  is  attended  by 
metul-workcrs,  joiners,  builders  and  carpenters,  carriage-builders, 
ship-builders,  &c.  The  instruction  is  imparted  by  measuring  and 
drawing  real  objects,  such  as  parts  of  machinery,  tools,  furniture, 
doors,  windows,  carriages,  &c.,  according  to  fixed  rules  and  speci- 
fied plans. 

"  Instruction  in  freehand  drawing  can  only  be  of  use  to  the 
pupils  when  they  use  real  objects,  and  not  drawings.  By  the 
method  pursued  here,  the  hand  needs  no  particular  preparation, 
because  the  nearest  model  offers  an  example  by  which  the  hand  and 
eye  are  both  alike  exercised,  fto  particular  introduction  to  the 
rules  of  perspective  is  needed.  The  scholar  learns  to  see  correctly ; 
and  his  attention  is  directed  to  the  principles  of  perspective  by  the 
teacher. 

"  From  the  specimens  of  freehand  drawing  which  were  exhibited 
at  Paris  this  year,  it  would  appear  that  no  method  can  compare  with 
that  here  referred  to,  for  producing  a  satisfactory  result  in  a  short 
time.  The  results  of  several  other  industrial  schools  are  in  this 
respect  far  behind  those  of  the  Hamburg  School.  Drawing  from 
18* 


210         TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

specimens  should  be  entirely  avoided  in  industrial  schools,  in  free- 
hand as  well  as  in  geometrical  and  technical  drawing.  .  .  . 

"  In  all  these  trade  schools  (at  Frankfort-on-the-Main)  the  greatest 
value  is  always  placed  upon  the  instruction  in  drawing.  Freehand 
drawing  is  begun  from  the  flat,  and  goes  on,  as  soon  as  possible,  to 
drawing  from  the  round  and  from  plaster  casts ;  in  which  particular 
regard  is  paid  to  ornament.  Even  with  the  more  advanced  pupils, 
less  regard  is  paid  to  shading  and  the  formation  of  shadows  than 
to  the  outline.  Only  the  best  pupils  are  occasionally  allowed  to 
undertake  shading,  and  then  only  with  the  stump. 

"  Linear  drawing  is,  as  a  rule,  begun  with  the  construction  of  geo- 
metric figures,  by  which  the  pupil  is  practised  in  the  use  of  the  rule, 
the  compass,  and  the  drawing-pen  :  he  then  proceeds  to  the  copying 
of  simple  implements,  to  which  succeeds  drawing  from  wooden 
models,  and,  lastly,  exercises  in  construction. 

"  The  descriptive  geometry  as  taught  at  Stuttgart  and  Nurem- 
berg is  very  profitable  for  various  trades,  —  such  as  workers  in  tin, 
bookbinders,  &c.,  —  as  the  pupils  are  taught  the  drawing  of  network, 
the  intersection  of  plane  surfaces,  &c.  With  linear  drawing  it 
might  be  advisable,  as  far  as  possible,  to  divide  it  according  to  in- 
dustries, especially  in  the  higher  branches." 

From  Paris  Lord  Lyons  sends,  among  other  things, 
the  methods  prescribed  by  the  government  for  instruc- 
tion in  the  special  schools.  With  reference  to  descriptive 
geometry,  which  is  the  basis  of  so  much  mechanical 
drawing,  it  is  directed :  — 

"Many  pupils  find  it  difficult  to  represent  to  themselves  the 
geometric  figures  in  space,  to  read  in  space,  as  it  is  called  :  never- 


DRAWING.  211 

theless,  to  read  in  space  is  an  indispensable  faculty  for  artisans  and 
other  persons  following  industrial  pursuits ;  and  every  effort  must 
be  made  to  develop  it  in  the  pupils  of  the  special  schools.  The 
teachers  of  descriptive  geometry  should,  therefore,  make  use  of  the 
planes  with  turning  joints,  and  the  stems  furnished  with  points, 
which  are  used  in  the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Metiers,  in  order  to 
represent  straight  lines  and  planes,  and  to  render  palpable  their 
various  respective  positions.  The  pupils  —  being  provided  with 
similar  apparatus,  but  on  a  smaller  scale  —  should  themselves  realize 
the  figures  proposed.  When  all  the  pupils  have  finished  their  con- 
structions, the  professor  should  exhibit  his  from  every  point  of  view, 
in  order  to  accustom  the  eyes  of  the  pupils  to  the  different  aspects 
under  which  it  may  appear :  finally,  suppressing  lines  and  planes, 
he  should  draw  on  the  board  the  material  figure  which  he  has  just 
constructed,  after  having  assured  himself  that  all  the  pupils  have 
read  correctly  in  space,  and  have  understood  the  relations  of  the 
lines  and  the  planes.  The  instruction  given  in  this  way  is  slower  ; 
but  it  keeps  alive  the  attention  of  the  young  people.  The  method 
is,  besides,  indispensable  for  many  of  them.  The  success  of  the 
pupils  in  the  study  of  projections,  perspective,  and  cosmography, 
and  as  regards  the  works  which  they  will  one  day  have  to  under- 
take, depends  entirely  on  their  perfect  understanding  of  this  first 
part  of  the  course  ;  which  is,  as  it  were,  the  alphabet  of  a  more  com- 
plex kind  of  reading. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  the  data  of  a  practical  geometrical 
question  are  essentially  numerical  :  thus  a  point  is  given  by  the 
distances  of  the  two  planes  of  projection,  measured  and  expressed 
in  metres  and  centimetres  ;  a  straight  line,  by  two  of  its  numbered 
points,  and,  frequently,  by  a  point  and  the  angles  which  the  straight 
line  makes  with  the  planes  of  projection,  &c.  The  pupils  should, 


212  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

therefore,  be  early  exercised  in  constructing  on  some  given  scale 
the  data  of  the  question  proposed.  The  amplifications,  the  reductions, 
the  changes  of  scale,  ought  to  be  rendered  familiar  to  them  by 
numerous  examples.  Every  problem  in  the  theory  has  its  corre- 
spondent in  numerical  data;  and  all  the  plans  are  executed  on  a 
given  scale.  Furthermore,  as  the  instruction  is  addressed  to  young 
people,  who,  as  yet,  are  little  accustomed  to  abstract  considerations, 
their  eyes  ought  to  be  constantly  appealed  to  in  aid  of  their  under- 
standing. The  professor  should,  therefore,  propose  numerous  ex- 
amples in  support  of  the  principles  propounded ;  and  the  objects 
in  relief  should  be  placed  before  the  pupils.  The  representation 
of  bodies  should  be  much  dwelt  upon.  The  proposed  exercises  arc, 
in  the  first  place,  useful  in  themselves,  because  they  give  to  the 
pupils  their  first  notions  of  frame-work  (charpente) ;  but  the  exercises 
are  more  especially  beneficial  by  giving  the  pupils  the  habit  of  read- 
ing the  language  of  projections,  and  of  figuring  to  themselves 
objects  in  space.  Lastly,  every  opportunity  should  be  seized  for 
representing  simple  applications  to  stone-cutting  and  the  determi- 
nation of  shadows  :  — 

"  Representation  of  a  point  and  a  straight  line  to  trace  the  pro- 
jection of  a  cube,  a  prism,  a  pyramid ;  some  simple  joinings  of 
timber-work,  such  as  joining  with  mortise  and  tenons,  &c. ;  pro- 
jections of  a  pair  of  principals ;  representation  of  a  plane,  straight 
lines  (droites),  and  perpendicular  planes ;  method  of  rabbeting(rafoztfe- 
ments),  angle  of  two  straights ;  angles  of  two  planes ;  rotatory  move- 
ment round  a  vertical  axis ;  applications ;  intersections  of  a  sphere 
and  a  plane ;  curve  of  contact  of  a  sphere  with  a  circumscribed 
cylinder/'  &c. 


DRAWING.  213 


TESTIMONY   OF    ENGLISH   ARTISANS. 

[See  Chap.  U.  for  particulars  about  the  report  of  the  English  artisans 
\rlio  were  sent  to  the  Paris  Exhibition  in  1867.] 

Benjamin  Lucraft,  chair-maker,  says  :  — 

"  Having  on  other  occasions,  when  in  Paris,  observed  that  lads 
of  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age  were  intrusted  with  superior 
work  to  that  of  our  lads  in  London,  I  determined  to  make  the 
subject  one  of  special  inquiry ;  and,  while  visiting  one  of  the  fac- 
tories already  named,  a  good  opportunity  offered.  Seeing  some 
lads  at  work  with  the  men  in  the  carvers'  shop,  I  went  to  the  bench 
of  one  about  fourteen.  He  was  carving  a  chair-back  of  a  mediaeval 
pattern,  from  a  working-drawing :  it  was  nearly  finished,  and  well 
carved.  Finding,  from  inquiry,  that  he  had  done  the  whole  him- 
self, I  expressed  my  surprise  that  one  so  young  was  found  capable 
of  carving  so  well,  and  was  informed  that  boys  at  school  are 
specially  prepared  for  the  trade  they  fancy,  or  that  their  friends 
have  decided  upon  for  them  ;  so  that  a  boy  about  to  be  apprenticed 
to  learn  carving  is  instructed  in  ornamental  drawing,  modelling, 
and  designing." 

Francis  Kirchoff,  glass-painter,  reports  :  •— 

"  The  French  work,  when  compared  with  the  English,  shows  a 
greater  diversity  of  design  in  construction,  and  more  freedom  and 
grace  in  the  drawing  of  the  ornament ;  but,  in  excellence  of  color 
and  pleasing  harmony,  the  English  glass  is  much  superior," 

In  his  report,  James  Mackie,  wood-carver,  says :  — 
"  I  visited   the  Ecole  Imptriale  Specials  pour  I  'Application  des 


214  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

Beaux  Arts  a  I' Industrie.  On  that  occasion  there  was  an  exhi- 
bition of  the  works  of  the  students ;  and  the  number  and  variety 
were  considerable  and  interesting.  Conspicuous  among  the  ex- 
hibits were  some  large  models  in  clay.  The  minister  of  instruction 
had  dictated  the  subject;  and  the  following  were  the  particulars 
given :  A  somewhat  large  tympanum  of  a  pediment,  to  have  the 
head  of  a  bull  for  the  centre,  resting  upon  a  shield,  with  accessories 
of  boys,  and  festoons  of  fruit  and  flowers.  The  best  was  a  very 
successful  interpretation  of  the  order  given.  A  vase,  intended  to  be 
executed  in  silver,  was  also  modelled  according  to  instructions. 
There  were  several  competitors  in  each  case.  1  hese  studies  were 
little  more  than  good  sketches  in  clay ;  but  it  was  evident  that  the 
students  were  learning  a  most  useful  lesson,  that  would  stand  them 
in  good  service  when  they  went  forth  into  the  world.  There  were 
the  usual  school  studies,  both  in  clay  modelling  and  drawing,  or 
rather  superior  sketching ;  the  prettiness  and  high  finish  aimed  at 
in  the  English  schools  being  left  alone.  There  were  copies  of  casts 
of  figures  and  ornament,  drawings  of  natural  leaves  and  flowers, 
sketches  (from  memory)  of  well-known  works,  original  designs,  and 
sketches  done  in  a  given  time.  All  of  them  were  interesting,  and 
indicated  great  industry  and  a  promise  of  excellence.  It  seemed 
abundantly  clear  that  the  system  pursued  was  simple  and  rapid, 
and  that  the  teaching  and  practice  produced  valuable  results.  It 
seems  to  have  great  vitality ;  never  being  without  deep  and  varied 
interest  to  the  students,  —  features  that  should  distinguish  every 
school,  and  without  which  they  will  assuredly  fail  in  accomplishing 
the  objects  "sought  to  be  attained.  This  system  of  being  content 
with  good  sketching  in  all  branches  of  instruction  in  art  seems  to 
be  the  life  and  soul  of  art  as  applied  to  maufactures.  Good  sketch- 
ing is  acquired ;  and,  as  few  will  require  to  gain  a  subsistence  by 


DRAWING.  215 

making  finished  pictures,  a  valuable  and  sufficient  power  is  gained 
that  is  always  in  great  request,  and  is  never  lost. 

"  A  visit  to  the  exhibition  of  the  works  of  the  students  of  the 
Ecole  Imperials  Speciale  de  Dessin  pour  les  Jeunes  Personncs 
showed  that  the  young  ladies  practised  the  same  system  with  very 
profitable  results,  although  in  a  less  degree.  Their  studies  partook 
largely  of  pen-and-ink  drawings,  with  a  view  to  the  practice  of  the 
art  of  wood-engraving." 

E-.  Baker,  wood-carver,  reports  :  — 

"  A  knowledge  of  drawing  being  essential  to  a  good  carver,  the 
schools  of  design  in  Paris  are  more  numerous,  and  easier  of  access, 
than  in  London.  Their  system  of  teaching  is  superior  for  practical 
purposes  to  our  own  :  it  gives  a  better  general  idea  of  the  object 
designed.  Instead  of  exact  outline,  and  a  slow  and  tedious  process 
of  shading,  they  time  their  pupils,  allow  them  more  latitude,  and 
get  a  better  general  resemblance  of  the  object  copied.  Apprentices 
generally  attend  these  schools  in  the  evening.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  or  fourteen,  boys  are  apprenticed,  serving  three  to  five  years, 
and  are  remunerated  in  proportion  to  what  they  earn.  This 
encourages  quickness.  Being  free  at  the  age  of  seventeen  or 
eighteen,  they  change  their  workshops,  and  gain  experience,  at  the 
age  when  the  mind  is  best  suited  for  receiving  instruction.  At 
twenty-one  he  is  already  an  experienced  workman,  just  when  our 
apprentices  are  merging  from  their  semi-torpid  existence." 

William  Letheren,  art-metal  workman,  says  :  — 

"  The  skill  of  the  smith  is  displayed  in  uniting  the  parts  of  a 
piece  of  iron-work,  so  that  the  different  leaves  and  other  parts, 
when  completed,  form  a  whole,  blending  one  with  the  other.  Then 


216  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

we  get  use,  durability,  and  ornament  combined.  This  the  older 
smiths  made  their  study ;  and  it  should  be  our  aim  to  excel  them. 
In  this  class  of  work,  the  workman  must  not  only  be  practical,  but 
have  a  knowledge  of  design  and  drawing.  In  this,  as  a  rule,  the 
English  workmen  are  behind  :  for  we  may  find  many  a  good  smith  ; 
but,  having  no  knowledge  of  drawing,  he  only  destroys  the  good 
effect  intended  by  the  designer. 

"  I  think  the  schools  of  art  have  done  much  toward  the  improve- 
ment of  the  mechanic;  but  few  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity. 
The  French  have  an  advantage  in  this  respect ;  the  master  of  nn 
apprentice  is  bound  by  law  to  give  him  two  hours  a  day  for  edu- 
cation :  and  the  class  of  schools  formed  for  such  have  a  peculiar 
advantage,  inasmuch  as  the  artisan  is  invited  to  bring  specimens 
of  work  of  whatever  kind  ;  and  prizes  are  awarded,  at  certain  times, 
to  those  that  excel.  In  this  respect  the  French  are  far  before  the 
English." 

In  his  special  report  on  the  condition  and  habits  of 
the  French  working-classes,  Richard  Whiteing  says  :  — 

"  We  are  convinced  a  course  of  systematic  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  design,  and  the  nature  of  materials,  is  what  is  most 
needed  in  our  art  schools  at  the  present  day.  It  is  not  enough  to 
give  men  the  best  examples  to  copy,  the  best  materials  to  use :  the 
greatest  care  should  be  taken  to  explain  to  them  why  those 
examples  and  those  materials  are  considered  the  best ;  to  show  them 
that  beauty  in  the  wrong  place  becomes  deformity ;  and  how 
narrow  is  the  boundary  line,  which  in  art,  as  indeed  in  every  field 
of  human  endeavor,  separates  the  sublime  from  the  ridiculous.  All, 
or  nearly  all,  the  faults  which  in  the  past  were  charged  against 


DRAWING.  217 

English  design,  were  mainly  traceable  to  the  causes  we  have  pointed 
out.  It  was  not  denied  that  there  was  beauty  here  and  there  in 
our  houses,  our  furniture,  our  dress  ;  but  what  was  complained  of 
was,  that  those  beauties  were  mostly  chosen  without  any  perception 
of  harmony  in  their  relation  the  one  to  the  other.  They  were 
exotics  from  many  climes,  loosely  jumbled  together,  each  neutral- 
izing the  effect  of  the  other.  Since  the  establishment  of  art  schools 
in  this  country,  we  have  made  a  much  nearer  approach  to  congruity 
of  ornament ;  but  much  yet  remains  to  be  done :  whereas,  in  the 
earliest  examples  of  French  manufacture,  there  is  always  visible  a 
certain  sense  of  the  becoming,  a  certain  harmony  of  parts,  and  sub- 
jugation of  details  to  one  leading  idea,  —  a  false  one  it  may  be,  but 
still  having  a  distinct  individuality  of  its  own.  The  word  '  style '  is 
always  on  the  French  workman's  lips ;  and  its  claims  are  no  less 
rigorously  enforced  in  the  inferior  products  of  the  industry  of  our 
neighbors  than  in  their  highest  efforts  in  literature  and  in  art." 

James  Taylor,  practical  foreman  of  gas-fittings  manu- 
factory, Birmingham,  says  :  — 

"  With  respect  to  education,  I  did  not  have  an  opportunity  to 
notice  much  more  than  that  the  workpeople  generally  are  much 
better  up  in  fine  arts  than  our  people.  This  I  think  a  great  failing 
with  the  English,  —  that  they  are  not  sufficiently  educated  in  draw- 
ing and  the  fine  arts.  I  think,  unless  there  is  something  done  in 
this  direction,  that  we  shall  not  retain  the  supremacy  we  now  hold 
with  respect  to  the  chandelier  trade.  France  has  made  such  prog- 
ress in  the  trade  these  last  few  years,  that,  unless  something  is 
done  in  that  direction,  we  shall  not  be  able  to  keep  pace  with 
the  French." 

19 


218  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

William  Gorman,  brass-founder,  says :  — 

"  Taking  our  o\vn  productions  in  this  branch  generally,  our 
great  deficiency  is  in  design,  in  which  we  are  surpassed  by  most 
of  the  nations  on  the  Continent :  and  the  deficiency  is  not  confined 
to  ornamental  articles;  for  the  plain  are  frequently  very  bad  in 
form.  I  balieve  one  great  cause  of  this  defect  to  be  the  custom 
which  generally  prevails  of  employing  the  workman  to  make  his 
own  patterns.  If  we  are  to  maintain  our  position,  we  must  pay 
more  attention  to  form  and  design,  and  encourage  education  in  this 
important  direction." 

James  Plampin,  working-jeweller,  reports  :  — 

"  Their  superiority  is  in  taste  ;  and  taste  is  essentially  a  matter 
of  education.  Owing  to  the  extent  of  this  kind  of  education,  the 
taste  of  the  whole  nation  is  higher  than  that  of  the  English.  While, 
perhaps,  there  are  scarcely  more  than  four  out  of  two  hundred 
English  jewellers  that  can  draw,  from  inquiries  made  there  are 
scarcely  four  out  of  two  hundred  in  France  who  cannot.  Nor  is 
this  surprising,  when  we  learn  that  drawing  is  regarded  and  taught 
more  as  an  essential  than  as  an  accomplishment.  As  children, 
they  are  taught  at  the  day-school,  and  that  not  occasionally,  but 
as  part  of  the  usual  routine." 

Frank  J.  Jackson,  designer  and  art  teacher  from 
Birmingham,  says,  in  his  report  of  the  Paris  Ex- 
hibition :  — 

"One  noticeable  feature  in  French  industry  is  the  universal 
application  of  art,  no  object  bein<*  too  mean  for  adornment ;  and 


DRAWING.  219 

every  article  capable  of  being  turned  into  a  thing  of  beauty  receives 
its  share  of  attention  at  the  hands  of  the  artist.  To  such  an  extent 
is  this  love  of  art  carried,  that  mere  mechanical  finish  is  sacrificed 
at  the  shrine  of  beauty ;  and  we  find  that  the  very  things  we  pride 
ourselves  upon,  and  boast  of  achieving,  are  by  them  set  at  nought 
in  favor  of  aiming  at  a  higher  quality.  In  England  I  find  the 
matter  is  entirely  different.  Where  there  is  an  attempt  to  develop 
a  better  style  of  art,  it  is  almost  sure  to  be  of  a  special  and  re- 
strictive character ;  and  it  invariably  occurs  that  the  same  house 
that  will  produce  rare  and  costly  works  fails  to  devote  that 
attention  to  ordinary  wares,  so  as  to  raise  their  artistic  character  ; 
being  content  with  ugliness,  so  long  as  the  objects  are  perfect  in 
polish,  and  have  passed  through  the  routine  of  processes  that  are 
ever  dear  to  the  mechanical  mind.  Again  :  the  vitality  of  French 
art  is  very  remarkable.  In  their  search  after  novelty,  they  show 
a  wholesome  disregard  for  that  which  has  gone  before,  and  strike 
out  with  an  amount  of  artistic  daring  that  is  startling,  yet,  never- 
theless, governed  by  such  taste,  that  their  very  extravagances  pass 
unchallenged,  and  surprise  us  into  admiration.  Their  treatment 
of  the  human  figure  is,  perhaps,  of  a  more  daring  character  than 
even  their  use  of  ornament,  both  of  which  are  rendered  with  great 
warmth  and  brilliancy,  —  qualities  which  are  never  neglected,  what- 
ever style  of  decoration  they  may  adopt.  For  example,  the  style 
now  so  much  in  use  is  the  Greek  ;  but  instead  of  its  being  the  cold, 
severe  style  of  the  past,  in  their  hands  it  becomes  revivified,  rivalling 
their  favorite  renaissance,  and  earning  the  name  justly  bestowed 
of  'Neo  Grec.'  .  .  . 

"The  facilities  for  French  students  of  industrial  art  are  very 
great.  Besides  the  ordinary  academies,  they  have  what  are  called 
*  technical  schools,'  where,  in  the  same  institution,  drawing  is  taught, 


220  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

in  which  a  knowledge  of  a  trade  to  which  art  is  to  be  applied  can 
also  be  acquired,  the  fees  for  which  are  almost  nominal.  This  class 
of  school  is,  I  think,  of  the  utmost  value,  and  clearly  demonstrates 
that  the  French  do  really  possess  '  schools  of  practical  art/  The 
system  of  drawing  pursued,  as  far  as  I  could  judge  from  an  exami- 
nation of  many  folios  of  drawings  shown  in  the  Exhibition,  is  very 
excellent.  There  seems  to  be  no  over-anxiety  for  fineness  of  out- 
line ;  while  in  shading,  the  readiest  method  is  generally  adopted, 
more  importance  being  attached  to  the  realization  of  form,  and  less 
to  mere  manipulation.  Great  stress  also  seems  to  be  laid  upon 
drawing  from  the  human  figure,  and  flowers  from  nature.  Most 
of  the  specimens  I  saw  were  very  spiritedly  executed,  but  scarcely 
up  to  the  English  notion  of  neatness.  The  method  of  teaching 
carried  on  in  our  government  schools  offers  a  marked  contrast  to 
that  of  the  French.  Examine  the  drawings  that  are  occasionally 
exhibited,  and  it  will  be  found  that  an  immense  amount  of  labor 
is  spent  upon  fineness  of  line  and  mechanical  finish.  In  this 
respect,  I  think  we  are  decidedly  in  error;  in  fact,  we  begin  at  the 
wrong  end.  Fineness  and  neatness  of  line  are  the  results  of  much 
practice,  and  in  early  training  are  of  much  less  importance  than 
the  acquisition  of  correct  notions  of  size,  proportions,  and  forms : 
to  insist  too  strongly  on  the  former  is  to  jeopardize  the  realization 
of  the  latter.  Again  :  I  do  not  think  we  have  sufficient  drawing 
from  nature,  from  the  human  figure,  or  flowers ;  and  much  of  the 
students'  time  that  is  spent  in  making  copies  from  the  '  flat'  would 
be  more  effectually  employed  in  drawing  from  objects.  Drawing 
from  the  '  flat '  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  end :  whereas  it  too 
generally  appears  as  if  copying  was  the  end  itself.  Still  further, 
we  are  entirely  without  any  institutions,  that  I  am  aware  of,  that 
will  compare  with  the  French  technical  schools,  the  importance  of 


DRAWING.  221 

which  can  scarcely  be  overrated.  Our  schools  of  design  are  not 
at  all  comparable  with  them ;  for  they  give  no  evidence  of  a  special 
course  of  instruction  any  more  than  is  shown  by  ordinary  private 
academies." 

Mr.  James  Hole,  honorable  secretary  of  the  York- 
shire Union  of  Mechanics'  Institutes,  in  a  letter  in  1868 
to  Lord  Montagu,  vice-president  of  the  Committee  of 
Council  on  Education,  says  :  — 

"  Our  art  schools  do  not  bear  a  sufficiently  close  relation  to  the 
actual  work  in  which  art  workmen  are  engaged  to  give  the  latter 
a  personal  interest  in  the  studies.  The  great  merit  of  the  trade 
schools  on  the  Continent  is  the  intimate  relation  they  establish 
between  the  instruction  in  science  and  art,  and  its  practical  appli- 
cations. Our  schools  of  art  produce  highly-elaborated  works,  much 
as  if  we  aimed  at  producing  artists  rather  than  skilled  workmen. 
The  national  medals  are  given  for  excellence  in  subjects  interesting 
mainly  to  amateurs,  artists,  and  professional  teachers, — painting 
from  nature  in  colors,  drawing  from  the  antique,  and  design,  — but 
in  which  manufacturers  and  machinists  have  little  share,  as  medals 
are  not  given  for  excellence  in  mechanical  drawing.  No  examples 
for  students  to  draw  from  are  provided  for  the  schools  of  art ;  and 
those  that  are  made  use  of  in  the  Leeds  School  of  Art  (the  centre 
of  a  machine-making  district)  are  French  drawings  purchased  in 
Paris. 

"  Until  the  instruction  of  the  schools  can  be  made  to  have  a 

more  direct  bearing  upon  industrial  work,   neither  workingmen 

nor  their  employers  can  be  expected  to  take  a  very  strong  interest 

in  the  schools.     But  once  establish  that  relation,  and  it  probably 

19* 


222  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

would  not  be  difficult  to  induce  employers  to  permit  a  small  portion 
of  the  work-time  to  be  devoted  to  the  purpose  of  practically  illus- 
trated brief  lectures  on  the  principles  involved  in  their  work.  And, 
if  the  employers  were  thus  enabled  to  see  the  importance  of  this 
union  of  knowledge  with  labor,  artisans  would  likewise  deem  it 
an  object  of  ambition  ;  and  we  should  thus  get  some  of  the  best 
results  of  the  Continental  trade  schools.  It  is  vain  to  expect  that 
any  considerable  portion  of  our  workmen  will  give  up  their  hardly- 
earned  leisure  for  studies  the  importance  of  which  they  cannot 
yet  feel.  During  the  recent  discussions  on  this  subject  at  Birming- 
ham, a  manufacturer  stated  that  he  had  introduced  lessons  on 
design  into  his  workshop  for  the  benefit  of  his  apprentices,  and 
with  the  most  beneficial  and  satisfactory  results." 

TESTIMONY    OF    SCOTT   RUSSELL. 

Mr.  J.  Scott  Russell,  in  his  work  on  the  "  Systematic 
Technical  Education  of  the  English  People,"  says :  — 

"It  is  not  enough  that  the  workman  thoroughly  masters  the 
form  which  his  work  shall  take  :  he  must  also  be  able  to  draw  what 
we  have  called  the  three  plans  of  his  work  on  paper.  This  may 
be  considered  an  unnecessary  piece  of  skill  for  the  man  who  has 
only  to  do  the  particular  work  assigned  to  him,  and  of  which, 
probably,  a  perfect  pattern  is  put  before  his  eyes  to  guide  him. 
But  the  mere  seeing  of  his  pattern  is  not  adequate  to  superior  execu- 
tion. Every  bit  of  work  which  one  man  does  has  to  fit  into  some 
other  bit  of  work  of  some  other  man's  doing.  In  work  there  are 
degrees,  —  perfect  fit  and  misfit  of  all  grades.  To  make  his  work 
fit  other  people's,  a  man  must  know,  not  merely  his  own,  but  that 
of  all  about  him.  Each  man  should  therefore  understand  the  plans 


DRAWING.  223 

ot  the  complete  wo  -k  on  which  he  and  his  fellows  are  engaged,  in 
order  to  work  well  to  the  other's  hand.  The  only  way  to  get  this 
thorough  understanding  of  plans  is  to  have  learned  to  draw  them 
one's  self.  Complete  plan-drawing,  applied  to  his  own  business,  is 
therefore  essential  to  a  good  workman." 

It  was  generally  conceded  by  the  artists  of  England, 
and  by  foreign  visitors,  that  the  textile  manufactures 
from  India  were  the  most  perfect  in  design  of  any  that 
appeared  in  the  London  Exhibition,  1851.  Owen  Jones, 
the  author  of  "The  Grammar  of  Ornament,"  referring 
to  this  fact,  says,  "  We  see  in  the  ornaments  and 
articles  from  India  the  works  of  a  people  who  are  not 
allowed  by  their  religion  to  draw  the  human  form ;  and 
it  is  probable,  that  to  this  cause  we  may  attribute  their 
great  success  in  their  ornamental  works.  Here  in 
Europe  we  /rjpe  been  studying  drawing  from  the  human 
figure ;  but  It  has  not  led  us  forward  in  the  art  of  orna- 
mental design.  Although  the  study  of  the  human 
figure  is  useful  in  refining  the  taste,  and  teaching  accu- 
rate observation,  it  is  a  roundabout  way  of  learning  to 
draw  for  the  designer  for  manufactures." 

A  simple  glance  at  the  programme  of  any  special 
school  for  industrial  education,  even  for  agriculture  or 
gardening,  will  show  how  much  importance  is  attached 
to  drawing  in  nearly  all  parts  of  Europe.  Thus  about 


224  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

one-half  of  the  time,  on  an  average,  is  devoted  to  draw- 
ing in  all  the  trade  schools  of  Germany ;  which  schools 
are  for  the  instruction  of  apprentices  and  master  arti- 
sans. In  the  lower  practical  schools,  not  designed  for 
any  particular  industry,  from  two  to  four  hours  a  week 
are  consumed  in  drawing ;  while,  in  the  higher  practical 
schools,  drawing  occupies  from  one-quarter  to  one-third 
of  the  time.  In  the  technical  universities  and  colleges, 
the  students  give  about  one-half  of  their  time  to  draw- 
ing. Some,  of  course,  give  more,  some  less,  according 
to  the  department  of  industry  for  which  they  are  pre- 
paring. What  is  true  of  Germany  is  true  of  France, 
of  Switzerland,  and  of  other  European  countries.  Then 
below  all  this  lies  that  earlier  instruction  in  drawing 
which  is  almost  universally  given  in  the  elementary 
schools,  where  the  education  of  the  whole  people  begins. 

BELGIAN    TESTIMONY. 

A  congress  to  examine  into  the  best  methods  of  mak- 
ing artistic  instruction  general  was  held  at  Brussels, 
Sept.  21-23,  1868.  This  congress  was  attended  by  a 
large  number  of  teachers  and  inspectors  of  drawing 
from  the  Belgian  academies,  by  Belgian  painters  and 
sculptors,  and  by  delegates  from  various  foreign  coun- 
tries. In  his  opening  address,  denning  the  object  of 


DRAWING.  225 

the  congress,  the  questions  to  be  discussed,  M.  Viss- 
chers,  member  of  the  Board  of  Mines,  and  president 
of  the  Committee  of  Organization,  said :  — 

"GENTLEMEN,  —  You  have  all  seen  the  remarkable  exposition 
of  drawings  by  the  pupils  of  our  academies  and  our  free  schools. 
A  jury,  composed  of  competent  men,  has  been  commissioned  to 
judge  of  these  productions,  and  to  propose  to  the  government  the 
distribution  of  suitable  rewards,  to  be  given  to  the  authors  of 
the  best  works.  Our  duty,  on  the  other  hand,  will  be  to  examine 
the  questions  contained  in  our  programme,  — '  the  extension  of  the 
instruction  in  the  principles  of  drawing  to  all  the  primary  schools, 
and  re-organization  of  the  artistic  instruction  imparted  in  the  sec- 
ondary and  higher  schools.'  The  subject  before  us  to-day  is  insepa- 
rably interwoven  with  the  true  interests  of  the  mass  of  the  people, 
the  advancement  of  industry,  the  useful  and  the  fine  arts.  The 
question  is,  by  what  means  we  can  place  in  the  hands  of  all  men, 
particularly  the  working-man  and  mechanic,  a  new  instrument  to 
increase  their  personal  capital,  —  the  power  of  usefulness  and  enjoy- 
ment/' 

As  with  other  educational  subjects,  the  discussion 
which  followed  developed  a  variety  of  opinions,  more  or 
less  divergent,  as  to  the  best  manner  of  teaching  draw- 
ing. It  was  generally  agreed,  however,  that  drawing 
ought  to  be  introduced  into  all  the  primary  schools,  and 
should  consist  chiefly  of  linear  drawing. 

M.  Vou  Marke  said  he   would  begin   with   straight 


226  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

lines,  then  proceed  to  geometrical  figures,  followed  by 
rectilinear  designs,  and  then  by  those  having  curved 
lines,  advancing  to  ornaments.  The  pupil  could  now 
take  up  drawing  from  nature  with  advantage,  copying 
solids  first,  then  models  of  simple  ornament,  gradually 
advancing  to  things  more  elaborate  and  difficult. 

Having  been  urged  by  many  members  of  the  con- 
gress, M.  Hendricks,  whose  method  of  teaching  draw- 
ing has  been  widely  commended  in  Europe,  described  it, 
in  brief,  thus :  — 

MISTAKEN   STUDY   OF   THE    HUMAN   FIGURE. 

"I  must  state  here,  that  I  had  investigated  every  thing  carefully 
before  I  became  aware  of  the  evil  (the  deplorable  state  of  instruc- 
tion in  drawing  in  its  application  to  industry  and  the  different 
trades),  and  found  that  it  consisted  alone  in  confused  ideas  on 
the  part  of  teachers.  In  my  opinion,  this  evil  is  not  the  conse- 
quence of  want  of  talent  in  those  who  teach :  on  the  contrary, 
many  of  our  teachers  are  very  competent ;  and  by  far  the  greater 
number  possess  undoubted  talent.  No :  the  fault  lies  in  another 
direction, — in  that  too  frequent  and  widespread  mistake,  that 
the  study  of  the  human  figure  suffices,  and  ought  to  precede 
every  thing  else,  how  inferior  soever  the  trade  may  be  to  which  the 
pupil  intends  to  devote  himself.  There  lies  the  mistake,  and  the 
generally-acknowledged  decline  of  our  artistic  teaching  in  its  appli- 
cations to  the  various  branches  of  our  national  labor.  I  will  prove 
this  by  mentioning  a  few  simple  statistics.  Upwards  of  ten  thousand 
pupils  attend  annually  our  various  academies  and  schools  of  design  ; 


DRAWING.  227 

and  the  majority  of  them  have  practised  nothing  but  copying  the 
human  figure  from  engravings  or  plaster  casts.  Now,  if  this  exclu- 
sive study  was  sufficient,  ought  not  our  manufactures,  as  a  general 
rule,  to  show  the  highest  artistic  taste?  We  all  know  that  this  is 
far  from  being  the  case.  Nobody  will  deny  that  the  study  of  the 
human  figure  is  the  basis  of  all  purely  artistic  teaching.  But  it 
may  likewise  be  very  justly  remarked,  that  several  branches  of  art  — 
such  as  the  painting  of  landscapes,  flowers,  views  of  cities,  naval 
scenes,  and  many  other  subjects  —  have  been  cultivated  to  their  high- 
est degree  of  perfection,  without  their  authors  being  able  to  show  a 
profound  knowledge  of  the  study  of  the  human  figure.  A  great 
number  of  other  less  important  branches  of  art  may  likewise  thrive 
without  having  this  study  for  their  basis.  To  the  decorator  or 
ornamental  sculptor,  the  natural  kingdoms  furnish  a  large  number 
of  other  elements  which  are  just  as  indispensable  for  him.  The 
foundation  of  his  whole  art  lies,  more  than  anywhere  else,  in  the 
study  of  the  various  phenomena  presented  by  the  vegetable  king- 
dom, from  whose  inexhaustible  sources,  he,  from  time  immemorial, 
has  drawn  the  ideas  for  his  most  beautiful  creations,  and  his  happi- 
est applications  to  useful  objects,  as  well  as  for  the  architectural 
designs  which  antiquity  has  bequeathed  to  us. 

GEOMETRY  THE  TRUE  BASIS  OP  ALL  ELEMENTRY  DRAWING. 

"  According  to  my  idea,  all  elementary  drawing  should  take,  as 
its  foundation,  geometry,  and  make  the  elements  of  this  science 
subservient  to  the  analysis  of  artistic  forms,  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  are  not  an  inanimate  instrument  only,  but,  on  the  contrary,  a 
means  by  which  the  pupil  can  himself  control  and  appreciate  his 
work.  Every  method  should  be  rational,  positive,  and  not  leave 
room  for  doubt  in  the  pupil's  mind.  This  is  the  idea  which  has 


228  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

served  me  as  a  starting-point  in  making  out  the  method  which  I  am 
about  to  lay  before  you.  I  have  arranged  it  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  pupil  is  at  once  enabled  to  appreciate  the  peculiarities  of  the 
most  complicated  forms,  using  simpler  forms  with  which  he  has 
already  been  made  familiar. 

FIRST   DEGREE   OP   TEACHING. 

"  These  studies  consist  in  the  free-hand  drawing  of  forms  and  fig- 
ures, in  general,  geometrically  represented.  Before  letting  the  pupil 
reproduce  a  copy  of  the  smallest  object,  we  exercise  his  eyes  and  his 
hands  in  using  elementary  figures  which  allow  him  to  understand 
gradually  their  relative  proportions,  their  characteristic  combination, 
their  particular  form,  and,  finally,  all  their  details.  On  the  thorough 
practice  of  these  preliminary  exercises  depend  the  immediate  iind 
complete  results  in  the  reproduction  of  forms  and  figures.  The  pupil, 
knowing  how  to  construct  (by  free-hand  drawing)  a  perfect  square, 
and  rectangular  figures  of  all  dimensions,  will  gradually  apply  the 
generic  geometrical  figures  which  he  has  been  taught.  This  knowl- 
edge, practically  acquired,  will  enable  him  to  understand  immedi- 
ately the  characteristic  combination  of  the  object  presented  to  him, 
to  analyze  all  its  outlines,  and  reproduce  them  in  all  their  relative 
dimensions. 

SECOND   DEGREE    OF   TEACHING. 

"  Solids,  their  Construction  and  their  Study.  —  As  in  the  first  degree 
of  teaching,  we  also  here,  before  letting  the  pupil  copy  from  some 
figure,  give  him  the  means  of  understanding  the  form,  and  the  way  in 
which  it  is  composed.  We  commence  by  making  him  understand 
the  construction  of  elementary  figures.  He  learns,  first  of  all,  the 
construction  of  the  cube,  and  its  different  rectangular  divisions,  and, 
next,  to  place  it  in  all  the  positions  possible.  If  he  has  once  acquired 


DRAWING.  229 

this  foundation,  he  successively  refers  to  it  all  the  generic  forms,  the 
combinations  of  which  he  makes  in  the  various  positions  which  the 
teacher  prescribes.  He  proves  by  this  that  he  can  see  in  the  space, 
and  that  he  possesses  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  principal  parts  of 
which  any  given  figure  is  composed.  Arrived  at  this  point  of  his 
studies,  he  undertakes  the  construction  of  more  developed  figures, 
at  the  same  time  studying  the  various  elements  of  ornaments  in  their 
second  degree.  He  represents,  on  an  even  surface,  what  a  moulder 
represents  by  his  mould.  He  sees  solid  forms  ;  and  he  will  soon  be 
able  to  express  his  thoughts  in  drawing,  building,  &c.,  forms  which 
constitute  the  object  of  his  special  study. 

THIRD   DEGREE   OF   TEACHING. 

"  Drawing  after  Objects  or  Figures  placed  at  some  Distance.  —  It  is 
indispensable  here,  that,  at  the  very  outset,  the  pupil  should  become 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  rules  of  perspective ;  but,  simple  and 
easy  as  they  are  in  their  application  to  the  whole  figure,  just  as  diffi- 
cult and  tedious  do  they  become  in  their  regular  application  to  the 
construction  of  every  single  part  of  an  object.  In  recommending 
the  study  of  the  rules  of  this  science,  we  do  not  mean  the  rigorous 
application  of  these  rules  to  the  elevations  on  the  profiles  of  the 
thousand  different  points  of  a  capital  (of  a  pillar)  or  other  architec- 
tural ornaments.  We  will  leave  this  to  men  who  study  science  for 
its  own  sake.  What  we  want  is  this  :  that  the  pupil  learn  to  know 
the  construction  of  the  objects  which  he  has  to  represent,  that  then 
he  may  learn  to  give  to  all  the  details  of  this  object  their  proper 
perspective  position.  The  same  would  also  apply  to  the  study  of 
light  and  shade. 

"  Any  pupil  who  is  in  earnest,  and  has  thus  been  prepared  by  the 
elementary  and  analytical  study  of  the  three  degrees  of  out  method, 
20 


230  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

will  be  able  in  less  than  a  year  to  copy  any  object  placed  before 
him,  and  do  it  successfully.  Thus  does  the  first  degree  comprise 
the  study  of  forms  geometrically  represented,  and  the  means  of 
reproducing  them  in  all  their  just  proportions ;  whilst  the  second 
and  third  degrees  have  for  their  aim  the  initiation  of  the  pupil  in  the 
construction  and  reproduction  of  forms  and  figures  such  as  they 
present  themselves  in  space." 

M.  de  Taeye,  Director  of  the  Boyal  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts  at  Lou  vain,  said  :  — 

"  We  may  here,  for  safety,  establish  this  principle  :  the  elemen- 
tary study  of  every  kind  of  drawing  must  be  based  on  geometrical 
forms  ;  only  we  shall  see,  that,  in  putting  it  into  practice,  it  is  indis- 
pensable to  pursue  two  different  ways.  By  geometrical  drawing, 
one  arrives  at  an  exact,  precise,  and  mathematical  representation  of 
the  object,  taking  note  of  its  length,  breadth,  £c.  Thus  the  mind 
gets  a  complete  knowledge  of  its  real  form,  and  is  enabled  to  make 
the* most  delicate  analysis  ;  whilst,  by  drawing  from  sight,  one  only 
takes  note  of  the  apparent  form  of  the  object,  according  to  the  point 
of  view  from  which  one  considers  it,  without  being  able  to  arrive  at 
an  analysis  of  its  real  form.  The  first  way  of  drawing  obtains  its 
results  by  means  of  instruments,  such  as  ruler  and  compasses ; 
whilst  the  second  relies  substantially  on  the  exercise  of  the  eye,  and 
the  practice  of  the  hand.  I  believe,  therefore,  that  a  combination 
of  these  two  methods  is  an  absolute  necessity  in  order  to  constitute 
a  complete  and  rational  system  of  teaching  which  satisfies  the  de- 
mands of  imagination  and  reason." 

[For  a  fuller  account  of  the  discussion  by  the  congress  at  Brussels,  see 
"Technical  Education,"  by  Henry  Barnard,  LL.D.] 


DRAWING.  231 

FRENCH     REPORT     ON     DRAWING,    AT     THE     UNIVERSAL 
EXPOSITION,    PARIS,    1867. 

The  following  is  the  report  made  to  the  French  Min- 
ister of  Public  Instruction,  by  the  committee  on  "in- 
struction in  drawing  in  the  normal  schools,  the  primary 
schools,  and  the  course  for  adults,"  in  France  :  — 

**  Commissioned  by  your  Excellency  to  examine  the  drawings 
executed  for  the  Universal  Exposition,  we  finished  the  first  part  of 
this  work  with  M.  Brongniart,  inspector  of  schools  for  the  city  of 
Paris,  placing  a  mark  upon  each  drawing  to  indicate  its  value. 

"  My  colleague  of  the  superior  council  of  special  instruction, 
M.  Sebastien  Cornu,  desired  to  repeat  the  examination  with  me; 
and  we  have  ranked  each  of  the  schools  whose  products  were  dis- 
played at  the  Exposition. 

"  We  have,  therefore,  had  a  double  means  of  verification,  of  proof, 
in  an  investigation  which  we  wished  to  make  with  extreme  care,  as 
we  desired  to  respond  the  best  we  could  to  the  felicitous  thought 
which  your  Excellency  has  expressed  for  the  improvement  of  draw- 
ing in  France. 

"  We  realize  the  full  importance  of  your  resolves  concerning  this 
matter,  now  that  we  have  seen  the  sacrifices  made  abroad,  especially 
in  England  and  Germany,  in  order  to  enter  the  pathway  of  a  like 
progress. 

"  Hitherto,  relying  on  an  honorable  past,  on  great  examples,  and 
on  this  personal  initiative,  which  have  been  regarded  wrongly,  ac- 
cording to  our  view,  as  sufficient  in  art,  things  have,  in  large  meas- 
ure, been  left  to  themselves  in  France.  Undoubtedly,  even  without 


232  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

direction,  without  schools,  without  encouragement,  there  will  always 
arise  on  French  soil,  artists,  —  choice  natures,  —  who  will  leave  the 
multitude  in  spite  of  every  thing ;  but  if  the  times,  if  the  condi- 
tions, become  little  favorable,  these  happy  exceptions  will  be  more 
rare  :  some  natural  dispositions  will  be  smpthered,  others  perverted. 
Genius  itself,  without  severe  study,  shrinks  to  the  proportions  of 
talent.  An  age  will  give  Watteau  or  Boucher  in  place  of  Leonardo 
da  Vinci  and  Louini.  And,  if  we  go  back  to  the  real  influences  which 
determine  the  merit  of  artists,  we  see  of  what  necessity  are  classic  studies 
from  the  very  dawn  of  life;  indeed,  how  the  first  instruction  in  drawing 
is  responsible  for  the  future  public  taste. 

"  It  is  of  this  future  we  would  wish  to  speak  with  entire 
freedom. 

"  Present  results,  so  far  as  relates  to  mechanical  drawing,  graphic 
drawing,  machine-drawing,  are  almost  always  very  satisfactory  :  on 
the  contrary,  when  we  consider  ornamentation,  the  copies  and  mod- 
els and  the  instruction  are  equally  defective  ;  while  all  that  pertains 
to  the  figure,  to  imitation-drawing,  is  worse  still. 

"  If  we  except  the  schools  of  Paris,  Potiers,  Nancy,  Mulhouse, 
Metz,  Grenoble,  Orleans,  St.  Quentin,  Rochefort,  the  normal 
schools  of  Tulle,  Chaumont,  Cluny,  the  lay  schools  of  Beauvais, 
d'Epinal,  Pcronne,  Chapelle-sur-Loir,  the  ecclesiastic  schools  of 
Me'zieres,  Sedan,  Bayeux,  Rive-de-Gier,  and  Reims,  the  specimens, 
the  works  of  the  pupils  which  we  have  had  in  hand,  show  how  much 
good  a  prompt  reform  would  do.  In  the  normal  schools,  in  the  im- 
perial lyceums,  —  that  is  to  say,  in  the  schools  for  the  class  called  to 
direct,  to  form,  to  elevate  others, — we  have  found  the  drawings  much 
inferior  to  those  which  a  school  of  workmen  in  Paris  could  execute. 
It  seems  to  us  important  that  this  should  not  be  so.  Out  of  Paris, 
in  the  matter  of  drawing,  there  is,  with  very  rare  exceptions,  no  su 


DRAWING.  233 

periority  manifested  by  the  adult  classes  or  in  the  popular  courses. 
There  is  almost  everywhere  an  equally  bad  level.  Yet  we  have 
often  found  among  the  pupils  a  great  desire  to  do  well,  real  apti- 
tude, with  an  enormous  amount  of  work. 

"  As  far  as  we  can  see,  with  some  remarkable  exceptions,  the 
time  devoted  to  imitation-drawing  is  almost  completely  lost ;  and 
these  are  the  principal  causes  of  this  misfortune  :  — 

"  Everywhere  the  copies  and  models  of  figures  and  of  ornaments 
are  as  bad  as  possible,  and  will  be  the  cause  of  perpetuating  bad 
taste  and  ignorance.  Many  of  the  teachers  of  drawing,  who  have 
often  been  the  first  victims  of  this  state  of  things,  cannot  draw  : 
what  is  worse,  they  do  not  know  how  the  drawing  should  be  done ; 
while  their  taste  is  that  of  the  copies  and  models  which  they  buy. 
They  teach  error  with  a  profound  conviction,  with  the  best  possible 
faith.  The  notes  placed  by  them  upon  the  miserable  productions  of 
patience  very  badly  employed  often  showed,  that,  if  the  master  did 
not  do  the  work  for  his  pupil,  he  was  ready  to  indorse  it. 

"  Another  cause  of  evil  is  this  :  in  the  lyceums,  in  the  colleges, 
the  drawing-lesson,  taken  out  of  the  time  for  recreation,  has  always 
been  considered  by  the  students  as  a  species  of  encroachment  upon 
their  rest  and  their  sports.  They  come,  therefore,  to  these  studies, 
however  attractive  in  themselves,  with  an  ill-humor  which  they 
regard  as  well  founded.  They  are  resolved  on  a  retaliation,  of  which 
they  are  the  first  dupes  in  reality,  and  defend  themselves  against  the 
lesson,  instead  of  seeking  to  profit  by  it  as  do  the  pupils  in  the  arti- 
san classes.  Those  only,  and  at  the  last  moment,  who  are  going  to 
the  special  schools,  strive  to  learn  just  that  which  they  regard  as 
sufficient  to  cover  their  ignorance,  and  help  them  through  their 
examination. 

"  Finally,  there  is  a  graver  cause  than  bad  instruction  :  it  is  found 
20* 


234  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

in  the  debasement  of  the  public  taste.  This  is  sometimes  a  species 
of  weakening  of  the  moral  sense,  revealed  by  certain  lamentable 
signs. 

THE   GREAT   VALUE   OF   GOOD   DRAWING-COPIES. 

"  When  we  have  striven  to  discover  what  is  best  in  France,  in 
order  to  ask  your  Excellency  how  to  make  it  general  by  searching 
for  that  which  had  produced  it,  my  colleagues  and  myself  have  been 
surprised  to  see  how  the  art  sentiment,  perceptible  even  in  the  draw- 
ings of  children  (if  we  may  speak  of  them),  is  radically  modified  by 
the  objects  which  are  constantly  under  the  eyes.  I  desire  to  mention 
only  one  striking  example. 

"  The  city  of  Nancy  sent  landscapes,  figures,  ornaments,  flowers, 
executed  by  different  schools.  In  spite  of  the  variety  of  instruction, 
all  the  works  had  a  unique  character  of  grandeur,  of  amplitude,  a 
little  marred,  however,  by  that  bad  taste  which  Stanislas  everywhere 
impressed  upon  a  city  rebuilt  in  one  period.  The  influence  of  that 
period  —  of  that  architecture  of  Stanislas  —  has  been  such  that  we 
can  recognize  a  drawing  from  Nancy  among  a  thousand. 

"  The  models,  therefore,  are  not  simply  those  sheets  of  paper 
which  are  only  for  an  hour  under  the  eyes  during  the  drawing-lesson, 
but  every  thing,  indeed,  which  we  behold  in  childhood ;  especially 
every  thing  which  we  regard  with  passion,  with  love. 

"  Thus  at  Athens,  when  the  Greek  chisels  cut  the  marble,  they 
could  produce  only  beautiful  things.  Doubtless,  it  is  impossible  to 
give  the  children  of  a  little  town,  otherwise  than  by  photography 
and  engraving,  specimens  of  beautiful  monuments  capable  of  enlar- 
ging, elevating,  their  ideas.  But,  if  one  cannot  always  procure  the 
best,  to  shun  bad  impressions  is  a  duty. 

"  After  this  assault  upon  bad  drawings,  we  shall  ask  you  to  have 
excellent  ones  made ;  for  this  is  the  true  way  to  fortify  against  the 


DEAWING.  235 

bad.  We  could  wish  to  see  appear  a  complete,  serviceable  series  of 
figures,  ornaments,  flowers.  Beyond  the  good  ones  which  already 
exist,  would  it  not  be  possible  to  obtain  some  contributions  from 
certain  large  commercial  cities,  or  from  establishments  having  a 
direct  interest  in  the  creation  of  schools  of  taste,  of  schools  of  prac- 
tical and  serious  art  1  Would  it  not  be  possible  to  imitate  the  great 
progress  accomplished  in  Paris  ? 

WHAT   PARIS   HAS   DONE   FOR   DRAWING   IN   THE   MUNICIPAL 
SCHOOLS. 

"  I  would  like  here  to  give  the  provinces  an  account  of  what  the 
city  has  done — I  ought  to  say,  grandly,  generously  —  with  such  far- 
seeing  liberality.  I  wish  the  inspectors  of  the  departments  could 
see  what  I  began  to  examine  first  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  of  duty, 
but  which  I  afterwards  studied  with  extreme  interest,  —  the  schools 
of  drawing,  the  schools  for  adults  in  Paris. 

"A  few  years  ago  the  city  authorities  perceived  how  important  it 
was,  at  this  juncture  of  affairs  of  industry,  to  have  at  its  service 
more  artisans  who  understood  drawing,  —  men  of  taste  in  all  the 
departments  of  labor.  Embossers,  sculptors,  metal-workers,  those 
who  produce  pottery,  objects  of  luxury,  all  have  need  of  artistic 
studies,  which  make  the  worth  of  the  man,  the  worth  of  the  article, 
and  the  fortune  of  the  merchant. 

"  And  yet  Paris  had  for  schools  only  certain  miserable  low  halls, 
without  air,  windows  narrow,  badly  lighted  by  day,  badly  lighted  also 
by  night;  and  what  copies  !  what  models  !  But  in  spite  of  this,  in 
spite  of  the  insufficient  appointments,  so  deleterious  to  the  health  of 
the  pupils,  so  little  attractive  to  young  men,  for  whom  every  thing 
around  them  was  attractive,  these  miserable  schools  were  full. 
Stone-cutters  wished  to  become  sculptors ;  at  least  in  the  next  gene- 


236  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

ration.  House-painters  aspired  to  become  decorators.  Knowledge 
of  personal  interest  recommended  the  study  of  art,  for  the  purpose 
of  increasing  wages,  to  all  artisans  who  were  anxious  to  advance. 

Among  men  of  ability  are  always  men  of  heart.  The  lofty 
and  wise  activity  of  the  prefect  of  the  Seine,  moved  by  the  desire 
of  the  municipal  council,  which  is  the  organ  of  art-interests,  took 
the  business  in  hand.  A  commission  —  presided  over  by  the  distin- 
guished savan  and  friend  of  youth,  M.  Dumas,  whom  one  finds  at 
the  head  of  all  these  generous  organizations  —  was  appointed.  This 
commission  obtained  the  firm  and  steady  co-operation  of  the  su- 
perintendent of  the  fine  arts,  and  of  the  members  of  the  institute, 
who  formed  a  part  of  it.  All  have  held  it  an  honor  to  follow  in 
minute  details  the  execution  of  a  plan  which  should  have  for  the 
regeneration  of  art  the  most  serious  consequences.  In  a  situation 
less  elevated,  but  not  less  useful,  we  will  mention  the  services  of  a 
young  artist,  M.  Brongniart,  secretary  of  the  commission,  and  his 
colleague  in  the  inspection  of  schools  of  drawing,  M.  Baize,  both 
of  whom  have  shown  themselves  patient  and  indefatigable,  and 
who,  in  a  few  years,  have  given  to  all  the  schools  uniform  and 
excellent  appointments,  have  organized  the  use  of  copies  and  models, 
and  impressed  everywhere  habits  of  precision,  of  ordex,  and  a  pas- 
sion for  duty. 

"Many  young  persons,  thanks  to  the  labors  of  the  commission 
and  to  the  authority  of  the  prefect,  are  now  using,  under  excellent 
teachers,  select  copies  and  models,  and  attend  courses  of  instruction 
which  augment  their  zeal.  Instruction  in  drawing  has  indeed  re- 
vived in  Paris.  Even  after  we  make  allowance  for  the  conditions, 
always  more  favorable  in  a  large  city,  still  we  are  compelled  to  say 
that  the  results  far  exceed  what  the  rest  of  the  empire  can  show. 
Charged  simply  with  an  examination,  with  a  comparison  perhaps, 


DRAWING.  237 

of  different  school's,  doubtless  it  does  not  belong  to  us  to  advise  such 
or  such  measures  for  establishing  everywhere  that  equality  of  good 
which  we  have  found  at  Paris.  The  resources  and  the  obstacles 
must  differ  in  each  locality ;  but  in  recognizing  a  real  superiority 
over  the  rest  of  France,  or  over  foreign  countries,  we  have  desired 
to  learn,  as  far  as  we  could,  the  course  pursued  to  produce  such 
rapid  improvement ;  and  we  believe  the  memorial  of  it  ought  to  be 
preserved.  This,  briefly,  is  the  substance  of  it :  — 

"  Under  the  able  magistracy  of  the  prefect  of  the  Seine,  the 
universal  desire  for  progress,  at  first  manifested  only  by  the  munici- 
pal council,  led  that  council  to  establish  a  commission,  which 
should  ascertain,  beyond  doubt,  the  exact  state  of  instruction  in 
drawing  in  the  municipal  schools.  The  commission  devoted  a  year 
to  investigations,  as  severe  as  important,  in  order  to  determine 
what  reforms  should  be  inaugurated,  what  capital  they  required ; 
in  a  word,  to  determine  by  what  means  they  could  effect,  in  a 
durable  manner,  the  reforms  of  which  we  have  been  able  to  state 
the  marvellous  results.  These  investigations  once  finished,  the 
University  hastened  to  give  her  co-operation  to  measures  of  which 
she  could  appreciate  the  full  necessity.  Funds  were  appropriated ; 
and  the  realization  of  good  did  not  linger. 

"  The  examination  made  by  the  commission  showed  that  there 
was  in  Paris  a  condition  of  things  analogous  to  that  which  we  find 
everywhere  in  France  to-day,  —  that  is  to  say,  copies  and  models 
insufficient  in  number  (generally  of  a  very  mediocre  character, 
suggesting  to  the  pupils  a  detestable  past  of  commonplace),  a  small 
number  of  teachers,  and,  indeed,  very  inadequate  appointments. 

"  This  is  what  was  done  to  obviate  these  various  evils :  in  order 
to  have  better  copies,  after  submitting  to  a  severe  purification  all 
those  in  use,  they  appealed  to  the  kindness  of  Count  Nieuwerkerke, 


238  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

member  of  the  commission,  as  well  as  superintendent  of  fine  arts. 
Among  the  studies  from  nature  which  had  gained  medals  for  their 
authors  during  the  course  at  the  school  of  fine  arts,  he  had  search 
made  for  a  certain  number  of  figures  hitherto  overlooked,  concealed 
at  this  school,  and  which  now  furnish  the  pupils  of  the  municipal 
schools  most  precious  resources.  Then  followed  the  happy  thought 
of  promising  a  recompense  to  the  future  laureates,  when  their 
figures  should  be  taken  as  models  for  municipal  instruction. 

"  For  the  same  purpose,  the  pensioned  pupils  at  Rome  were 
required  to  send  a  certain  number  of  drawings  after  the  Italian. 
masters,  or  after  nature.  Finally,  M.  Gcrome,  member  of  the  insti- 
tute, colleague  of  Count  Nieuwerkerke  on  the  commission,  uinL'r- 
took  the  task  of  having  a  limited  quantity  of  lithographs  mink-, 
which  would  serve  to  show  the  printsellers  the  new  way  it  was 
resolved  to  try ;  to  show  them  the  impossibility  of  continuing  to 
sell  for  the  purposes  of  instruction,  which  was  henceforth  to  be 
better,  the  productions  of  the  past,  which  had  been  executed  by 
contract,  and  without  competition  for  honors.  As  to  the  teachers, 
the  task  was  yet  more  difficult.  This  is  how  they  satisfactorily  met 
the  difficulty  :  For  many  worthy  artists  it  must  be  advantageous  to 
give  some  hours  to  the  instruction  of  youth,  as  a  rest  from  other 
fatigues,  other  labors.  This  professorship,  profitable  alike  to  teach- 
er and  pupil,  not  only  affords  the  teacher  a  money  recompense,  but 
it  is  an  honorable  title. 

"  Instead  of  choosing  the  teachers  from  among  candidates  with 
out  guaranty,  and  upon  information  which  might  lead  astray,  they 
established  competitive  examinations  and  diplomas,  which,  elevat- 
ing the  level  of  studies  by  emulation,  present  the  advantage  of 
revealing  the  capacities  and  unknown  aptitudes  for  imparting  in- 
struction. These  diplomas,  who.se  advantage  had  always  been  con- 


DRAWING.  239 

sidered  incontestable  in  other  branches  of  education,  produced  a 
marvellous  result.  They  afforded  to  Paris  strong  evidence  of 
merit :  they  will  afford,  in  the  future,  lists  of  capable  teachers  open 
to  calls  from  the  provinces  and  from  abroad. 

"Finally  the  commission  (and  this  will  be  one  of  its  titles  to 
gratitude)  made  the  competitive  examinations  established  among 
the  different  pupils  of  its  schools  the  object  of  a  double  recom- 
pense, —  one  for  the  students  who  were  successful,  and  one  for  the 
teachers  who  had  led  to  their  success  ;  the  salaries  of  the  teachers 
to  be  augmented  according  to  the  number  of  prizes  obtained  by  the 
young  laureates. 

"  We  have,  then,  at  Paris  to-day,  in  the  municipal  schools,  emu- 
lation of  pupils  and  teachers,  frequent  examination  of  work,  and 
certainty  that  they  who  teach  carry  not  into  their  classes  an  indiffer- 
ence which  might  exist  even  with  real  talent.  There  is,  thanks  to 
this  combination,  the  assurance  of  a  union  of  efforts  towards  the 
same  common  end. 

"  As  to  the  appointments,  to  speak  the  truth,  and  render 
justice  to  every  one,  I  ought  here  to  say,  that  they  have  been  modi- 
fied in  the  happiest  manner,  and  do  no  less  honor  to  the  commis- 
sion than  to  the  zeal  which  their  secretary  displayed  in  changing 
completely  the  halls  of  drawing  all  along  one  bank  of  the  Seine, 
and  a  portion  of  the  other. 

"  All  those  who  are  occupied  with  education  know  how  the  love 
of  labor  is  increased  by  objects  apparently  insignificant.  One 
works  better  in  a  good  class,  where  order  reigns,  under  a  good 
light.  In  looking  at  the  magnificent  appointments  of  Cluny,  one 
of  the  examiners  said  to  the  director,  that,  if  his  hopes  were  to 
produce  ordinary  masters,  the  future  would  show  chemists,  savans, 
were  it  only  for  the  magnificence  of  the  laboratory,  capable,  in 
itself,  of  making  all  the  youth  dream  of  the  institute. 


240  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

"The  good  arrangements  of  the  halls  of  drawing  have  contrib- 
uted, we  are  convinced,  to  diffuse  the  taste  and  the  habit  of  work 
among  all  the  young  draughtsmen  in  the  suburbs  of  Paris ;  and  we 
sincerely  believe,  that,  if  other  cities  were  willing  to  imitate  a  move- 
ment which  I  have  only  been  able  to  describe  in  a  brief  and  incom- 
plete manner,  the  results  would  be  everywhere  equally  decisive. 

"  As  to  the  special  normal  school  at  Cluny,  I  cannot  do  better 
than  to  quote  here  an  extract  from  'the  report  made  by  M.  Dumas 
for  the  commission  charged  with  the  inspection  of  the  establish- 
ment (June,  1867). 

NORMAL   SCHOOL   OF    CLUNY. — DRAWING. 

"  '  The  inspection  of  the  instruction  given  at  Cluny  by  the  pro- 
fessor of  drawing  has  been  very  satisfactory.  The  method,  which 
is  that  of  Hendricks,  is  as  good  as  a  method  can  be ;  for  we  must 
not  expect  to  obtain  decisive  and  heroic  results,  even  from  a  very 
rational  course  of  instruction,  which  can,  at  best,  only  develop  the 
inborn  tendencies,  restrain  dangerous  impulses,  and  abridge  the 
time  of  the  studies. 

"  '  The  instruction  at  Cluny  presents  all  these  advantages.  Tho 
professor  is  clear  in  his  explanations,  full  of  zeal ;  and  one  has  only 
to  approve  what  he  has  done.  His  pupils  listen  to  him  with  atten- 
tion, respect,  and  a  desire  to  understand  and  to  do  well. 

" '  M.  H.  Dufiesne,  member  of  the  Superior  Council  of  Special 
Instruction,  who  has  consented  to  accept  the  mission  of  judging  the 
pupils  of  Cluny  in  relation  to  drawing,  is  at  this  moment  charged 
as  a  juror,  to  examine,  at  the  Universal  Exposition,  the  different 
modes  of  instruction  practised  abroad.  He  has  everywhere  seen  the 
Hendricks  method  produce  good  results.  The  geometrical  tra- 
cings which  form  its  basis  permit  one  to  compare  exactly  the  pro- 


DRAWING.  241 

portions  of  the  copy,  facilitate  enlargement  or  reduction,  and 
habituate  the  pupil  to  discover  for  himself  his  errors,  and  to  correct 
them.  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  almost  all  the  Italian  masters,  em- 
ployed this  method  for  their  pupils  and  for  themselves.  Indeed, 
this  mode  of  procedure  is  analogous  to  that  of  the  sculptors  for 
getting  the  proportions  of  their  marbles,  and  gives  the  same  results. 
This  comparison  is  sufficient  to  indicate  what  are  its  advantages 
and  its  limitations. 

"'It  seems  advisable,  indeed,  not  to  continue  this  manner  of  draw- 
ing for  a  long  time,  but  to  vary  it  sometimes ;  for  example,  by 
making  the  geometrical  tracings  after  the  execution  of  the  figure, 
as  a  proof;  or,  perhaps,  by  confining  them  to  certain  points  of 
division,  to  certain  great  lines  of  movement,  so  as  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  drawing  rapidly  and  with  spirit,  while  drawing  well.' 

"  Finally,  I  would  conclude  this  report  with  certain  practical 
hints  as  to  the  way  in  which  we  could  wish  that  instruction  in  draw- 
ing should  generally  begin. 

"'At  the  Universal  Exposition,'  says  M.  Cornu,  my  colleague, 
in  a  note  which  I  produce  entire,  '  various  methods  of  teaching 
draAving  are  exhibited  by  different  nations,  with  the  results  obtained 
by  each  of  them.  These  methods  are  rational.  They  are  based,  for 
mechanical  drawing,  on  geometry.  They  are  illustrated,  for  the 
most  part,  by  figures  in  relief,  and  have  mathematical  exactitude. 
As  to  the  methods  of  teaching  drawing  from  copies,  they  depend 
upon  principles  and  means  of  demonstration  generally  good  and 
ingenious  in  their  mode  of  application. 

FORM,  AND  NOT   SHADE,  THE  IMPORTANT   THING  FOR   BEGINNERS. 

"'The geometrical,  machine,  architectural  drawings,  &c.,  are  more 
satisfactory,  whatever  be  the  nation  to  which  they  belong,  than  the 
21 


242  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

copies  of  figures,  flowers,  and  ornaments  of  the  different  classes  of> 
imitation-drawing.  One  might  attribute  this  relative  inferiority  to 
the  copies,  defective  in  taste  and  form ;  also  to  a  certain  negligence 
in  teaching.  You  cannot  sufficiently  combat  the  tendency  of  pupils 
to  shade  too  much  in  order  to  arrive  at  effect,  and  to  destroy  their 
masses  of  light  by  too  much  detail,  and  their  masses  of  shade  by  too 
much  reflection.  We  cannot  too  often  repeat,  that  the  important 
point  is,  not  to  load  a  drawing  with  exaggerated  lights  and  shades, 
which  give  an  unnatural  aspect  to  the  object  represented,  but  rather 
to  render  its  true  character  by  a  faithful  and  intelligent  outline,  and 
by  lights,  shades,  and  half-tints  in  their  proper  place,  and  in  relative 
and  harmonious  proportions. 

"'Here  are  certain  estimates  of  instruction  in  drawing  abroad:  — 

ENGLAND. 

"  '  The  Kensington  School  presents  at  the  Exposition  an  impor- 
tant collection  of  studies  of  different  kinds.  Some  of  these  studies 
are  very  remarkable;  notably,  the  flowers  painted  by  Menzies,  the 
ornaments  in  various  styles,  by  Reule,  Boon,  and  Collins,  and 
also  the  drawings  for  paper-hangings  by  Chandler.  It  is  evident 
that  the  pupils  of  this  fine  establishment  have  the  best  and  rarest 
sources  from  which  to  draw.  How,  then,  can  we  help  being  aston- 
ished at  the  difference  which  exists  between  the  works  which  we 
have  just  named,  and  the  figures  painted  in  oil,  in  water-colors,  or 
made  with  the  crayon  ?  Without  speaking  of  a  picture  represent- 
ing a  woman  bathing,  —  the  execution  of  which,  and  the  taste,  leave 
much  to  be  desired,  —  those  studies  are,  in  general,  soft  and  affected, 
or  in  a  hard  manner,  and  jumbled  in  colors  and  effects.  The  draw- 
ings of  anatomical  figures,  made  with  so  much  care  and  manual 
skill,  as  well  as  academical  collections  drawn  too  hastily,  show 


DEAWDTG.  243 

clearly  that  it  is  more  important  and  more  difficult  to  give  the  true 
character  of  external  forms  and  accuracy  of  movement  than  to 
give  the  minutest  details  of  the  muscles  concealed  under  the  skin. 


"  '  Many  schools  of  drawing  established  at  Vienna  and  in  other 
cities  of  the  empire  have  sent  to  the  Exposition  their  methods  of 
instruction  and  the  works  of  their  pupils.  The  school  directed  by 
Prof.  Machatschek  is  one  of  the  most  important,  and  the  one  whose 
works  are  the  most  numerous  and  the  most  satisfactory.  The  sec- 
tion of  architecture  and  mechanics,  principally,  offer  a  list  of  works 
executed  with  method,  and  in  a  laudable  manner.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  the  imitation-drawings  of  figures,  of  flowers,  and  of 
ornaments,  as  well  as  the  model  studies  in  bass-relief  of  divers  styles, 
leave  something  to  be  desired  in  selection  and  execution.  We  make 
one  exception  for  the  Baugevverbe  Schule  of  Vienna,  whose  draw- 
ings of  ornament  are  in  good  taste,  and  well  executed. 

DENMARK. 

" '  The  drawings  by  the  pupils  of  the  School  of  Copenhagen 
deserve  to  be  honorably  mentioned  for  the  simple  and  intelligent 
manner  in  which  they  are  done.  One  finds  there,  what  is  seldom 
seen  in  the  works  of  pupils,  the  sobriety  and  harmony  of  effect,  per- 
mitting form  to  predominate,  making  it  serviceable,  instead  of 
destroying  it,  as  so  frequently  happens.  In  conclusion,  this  exhi- 
bition does  honor  to  the  instruction  and  to  the  enlightened  direction 
of  the  School  of  Copenhagen. 

BAVARIA. 

"  '  It  is  just  to  place  in  the  first  rank  the  Nuremberg  School  of 
Art  and  Industry.  The  beautiful  exhibition  of  the  products  of  its 


244  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

various  departments  do  the  greatest  honor  to  its  skilful  direction,  as 
well  as  to  the  talent  and  intelligent  zeal  of  its  professors.  The 
drawing  of  figure  and  ornament,  the  modelling  and  sculpture,  are 
explained  and  developed  in  a  manner  original  and  varied.  From 
studies  of  heads,  of  draperies  (whether  in  drawing  or  in  relief),  of 
portraits  in  historic  costumes,  of  academic  figures  of  small  size  to 
those  which  are.  drawn  of  natural  size  stumped  on  a  shaded  ground, 
there  is  a  very  remarkahle  specimen  of  the  works  of  student  paint- 
ers and  statuaries.  The  sculpture,  more  particularly  decorative, 
shows,  al>o,  a  very  great  quantity  of  ornamentation,  composed  almost 
whoHy  in  the  Gothic  style,  foliated  and  flowered  a  little  beyond 
measure.  In  the  whole  number  we  discover  but  two  or  three  bits 
in  the  Roman  style.  The  Greek  does  not.  appear  at  all.  This 
almost  complete  absence  of  the  antique  element  must  be  attributed, 
•  without  doubt,  to  the  necessity  of  forming  special  sculptors  to  restore 
the  ancient  Gothic  edifices  injured  by  time,  and  also  to  ornament 
the  new  monuments  erected  in  this  same  style  so  dear  to  Germans. 
Thus  it  happens  that  there  is  a  void  to  be  regretted  in  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  Nuremberg  School.  On  the  other  hand,  the  course  of 
study  in  the  direction  of  invention  and  of  composition  of  objects  of 
industrial  art  appears  excellent,  and  gives  the  best  results. 

WURTEMBERG. 

" '  A  remarkable  collection  of  plaster  models,  from  elementary 
geometrical  figures  to  the  most  complicated  ornaments  of  pointed 
architecture,  has  been  formed  at  Stuttgard  by  M.  de  Steinbeis. 
Mouldings  of  plants  and  foliage,  most  skilfully  made  from  nature, 
supply  the  pupil  with  excellent  subjects  for  study,  and  sho\v  him 
what  assistance  he  can  obtain  from  nature  for  decorative  art.  The 
judgment  which  presided  over  the  creation  of  a  course  of  drawing 


DRAWING.  245 

by  mouldings  after  nature  cannot  approve  the  bad  method  followed 
in  making  the  great  black  drawings  which  cover  the  walls  of  the 
Bavaria  and  Wurtemberg  Exposition,  —  a  method  which  consists 
in  forcing  the  pupil  to  spend  much  time  on  complicated  drawings, 
filled  with  heavy  shades  that  are  produced  by  great  effort  at  hatch- 
ing, and  which  teach  them  absolutely  nothing.' 

"  Here  are  the  theories  of  art,  which  we  present  to  those  who  are 
delegated  to  teach.  In  other  respects,  the  whole  personal  initiation 
is  left  to  them." 

HENRI  DUFRESNE,  Reporter. 


PLAN      OP      TEACHING      DRAWING      AT      THE   ROYAL   INDUSTRIAL 
SCHOOL    IN   NUREMBERG,    ADOPTED    IN   NOVEMBER,   1869. 

• 

I.  Ornamental    drawing,   preparatory  class,    (a)  After   orna- 
mental models,  twelve  hours  weekly,  (b)  Exercises  in  the  drawing 
of  surface  ornaments,  six  hours  weekly  ;  Prof.  F.  C.  Meyer. 

II.  Drawing  from  the  antique,  twenty-four  hours  weekly ;  Prof. 
Jaeger. 

HI.  (a)  Drawing  from  living  models,  groups  of  figures  and 
drapery,  twelve  hours  weekly ;  Supt.  Kreling.  (b)  Drawing  of 
heads,  twelve  hours  weekly  ;  Supt.  Kreling  and  Prof.  Jaeger,  (c)  Ex- 
ecution of  cartoons,  paintings  on  glass,  &c. ;  Supt.  Kreling  and 
Prof.  Wanderer. 

Technical  School.  —  First  Course. 

First  Term  (of  six  months).  —  Education  of  the  eye  and  hand  by 
the  drawing  of  lines  and  geometrical  figures.    Full  size  drawing  of 
bodies  with  plane  surfaces.    Explanation  of  the  faculty  of  sight, 
21* 


246  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

and  the  first  principles  of  perspective.     Linear  drawing  without 
instruments  is  combined  with  free-hand  drawing. 

Second  Term.  —  Continuation  of  free-hand  drawing.  Drawing  of 
simple  ornaments,  from  pictures  fastened  on  the  walls,  or  from 
slightly  relieved  or  intersected  objects.  Linear  drawing  with  the  aid 
of  square,  and  mathematical  instruments.  Division,  measuring,  and 
transfer  of  right  lines,  angles,  and  figures.  Construction,  gradation, 
and  subdivision  of  scales. 

Second  Course. 

Drawing  of  figures  in  relief.  Drawing  of  compound  ornaments, 
from  "  plastic  "  (plastischen)  models.  The  proportion  of  the  human 
head  and  its  parts  in  firm,  simple  outlines,  from  pictures  fastened  on 
the  walls.  Exercises  in  the  construction  of  regular  curved  lines. 
Architectural  details.  Projections  of  simple  surfaces  and  plane  cir- 
cumscribed contours.  Relief-drawing,  after  simple  "  plastic  "  objects 
in  different  proportions  as  to  size. 

Third  Course. 

Continuation  of  the  exercises  in  free-hand  drawing,  curvilinear 
objects,  drawing  of  animals  and  plants,  —  so  far  as  applicable  in 
ornaments, — with  light  shading  to  mark  the  form.  Explanation 
of  the  manner  of  representing  style.  Drawing  of  the  human  body 
and  its  proportions  in  outlines.  Linear  drawing.  Continuation  of 
exercises  in  the  drawing  of  projected  figures,  with  reference  to  sim- 
ple machines  and  models.  The  (five)  orders  of  architecture.  Indus- 
trial ornamentations  and  profiles,  —  if  possible,  in  natural  size,  — 
after  models.  Sketching  from  nature.  Exercises  in  India  ink.  De- 
signs in  intersection.  Relief-drawing,  after  pictures  of  simple  forms 
from  the  antique. 


DRAWING.  247 

Agricultural  School.  —  First  Course. 

First  Term.  —  Training  of  the  eye  and  hand  in  the  drawing  of 
lines,  geometrical  figures,  and  simple  ornamental  forms,  from  large 
pictures  fastened  on  the  walls.  Drawing  from  correspondingly  large 
bodies  with  plane  surfaces.  Explanation  of  the  act  of  seeing,  and 
the  first  elements  of  perspective. 

Second  Term.  —  Linear  drawing,  with  the  aid  of  square  and  in- 
struments. Division  into  spaces.  Measuring  and  transfer  of  straight 
lines,  plane  angles  and  figures.  Construction  and  division  of  scales. 
Exercises  in  the  drawing  of  simple  geometrical  bodies  in  outlines, 
and  in  various  positions.  The  principles  of  projection. 

Second  Course. 

Exercises  in  drawing  of  details  of  architecture,  and  especially 
arrangements  of  agricultural  buildings,  after  models  and  original 
designs.  Drawing  of  simple  agricultural  implements.  Instruction 
in  the  designing  of  maps,  and  division  of  land  into  sections,  intended 
for  various  agricultural  purposes  (culturpldnen). 

Third  Course. 

Exercises  in  the  drawing  of  whole  buildings,  after  models  on  a 
diminished  or  enlarged  scale.  Sketches  of  buildings  in  elevation 
and  in  profile.  Drawing  of  agricultural  implements  and  machines, 
after  original  designs. 

Polytechnical  School  [Real  Gymnasium] .  —  First  Course. 

Free-hand  drawing.  Exercises  in  the  drawing  of  straight  lines, 
and  the  formation  of  geometrical  figures  out  of  these  lines.  Draw- 
ing of  bodies  with  plane  surfaces,  accompanied  by  explanations  of 


248  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

the  faculty  of  sight,  and  the  first  elements  of  perspective  with  refer- 
ence to  single  figures  and  groups  of  figures.  Exercises  in  the  draw- 
ing of  curved  lines,  and  the  formation  of  simple  ornaments  out  of 
these  lines.  Drawing  of  symmetrical  ornaments  and  implements, 
from  pictures  fastened  on  the  walls,  and  from  slightly-relieved  plas- 
ter casts  of  antique  forms  of  art. 

Second  Course. 

Free-hand  drawing.  Division  and  relations  of  different  parts  of 
the  human  body,  from  pictures  on  the  walls.  Foreshortening  of 
single  parts  in  different  positions ;  the  form  of  the  human  body  in 
different  movements.  Richer  ornaments,  round  and  plane,  in  out- 
lines. Linear  drawing.  Exercises  with  rule,  square,  and  compasses, 
by  dottings  or  figures.  Explanation  of  the  principles  of  projection. 
Exercises  in  the  delineation  of  simple  bodies  in  projection.  MI.MS- 
uring  and  reduction  of  models  of  bodies,  and  their  projection 
according  to  various  positions. 

Third  Course. 

Free-hand  drawing.  Practice  in  the  art  of  shading  in  its  sim- 
plest form,  — at  first  from  plane-surface  ornaments,  afterwards  from 
round.  Heads  in  different  positions  ;  hands  and  feet,  after  easy 
models.  Ornaments  of  different  epochs  of  art,  in  connection  with 
architectural  details.  Linear  drawing.  Measuring  of  compound 
models  of  bodies  with  plane  surfaces,  and  their  projection,  by  the 
application  of  geometrical  rules,  on  an  enlarged  or  reduced  scale, 
according  to  position.  Relief-drawing.  Projection  of  ornamental 
details  and  of  entire  ornaments,  —  at  first  after  solid,  then  after  plane 
models,  on  an  enlarged  or  diminished  scale. 


DRAWING.  249 

Fourth  Course. 

Free-hand  drawing.  Drawing  of  animals  and  plants,  with  close 
regard  to  foreshortening  and  oblique  positions.  Explanation  of 
style,  and  its  mode  of  presentation.  Drawing  of  figures,  after  plane 
models.  Ornamentation  in  conjunction  with  the  human  form,  and 
forms  of  animals.  Linear  drawing.  Projections  of  bodies  with 
curvilinear  surfaces,  and  their  interjections.  Drawing  of  the  orders 
of  architecture.  Exercises  in  linear  perspective,  and  shading  of 
outlines.  Construction  of  models.  Execution  of  forms  of  crystals, 
and  their  transitions,  in  pasteboard,  after  original  designs,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  rules  of  descriptive  geometry. 

With  the  authoritative  testimony  presented  in  this 
chapter,  it  cannot  now  be  difficult  to  determine  what 
should  be  the  general  scope  and  character  of  a  course 
of  drawing  for  common  and  special  schools  in  this  coun- 
try, calculated  to  give  both  educational  and  industrial 
results  of  the  highest  order.  Such  a  course  of  draw- 
ing, whatever  may  be  said  of  details,  must  embody 
the  leading  features  which  are  approved  by  the 
authorities  here  cited ;  as  does,  for  instance,  the 
course  prepared  by  Prof.  Walter  Smith,  Director  of 
Art  Education  for  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  For 
the  purpose  of  preparing  a  course  of  instruction  in 
drawing,  and  superintending  its  introduction  into  the 
public  schools  of  the  State,  on  the  recommendation  of 
the  Science  and  Art  Department  of  the  British  Govern- 


250  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

ment,  Massachusetts  and  the  city  of  Boston  secured  the 
services  of  Prof  Smith,  an  English  teacher  of  drawing 
and  art,  who  had  had  an  experience  of  many  years  as 
the  head  master  of  the  school  of  art  at  Leeds,  while  he 
was  familiar  with  the  work  done  in  the  best  Continental 
schools.  With  the  results  of  European  Art  Education 
before  us,  and  a  clear  understanding  of  our  own  needs, 
it  does  seem  that  there  need  be  no  more  misconception 
of  what  is  really  meant  by  drawing,  and  no  more  seri- 
ous blunders  made  in  teaching  it  in  this  country. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CONCLUSION. 

THE  testimony  of  the  preceding  pages  is  conclusive, 
that,  at  this  juncture  in  affairs,  American  labor  should 
be  thoroughly  educated.  It  would  be  better  for  the 
laborer  who  is  educated ;  since,  by  doing  skilled  work, 
his  toil  would  bring  him  an  ampler  reward.  It  would 
be  better  for  the  employer ;  since,  with  the  same  capital, 
he  would  obtain  products  of  greater  value,  while  he 
would  have,  in  the  educated  labor  under  his  control, 
an  assurance  of  stability,  an  assurance  that  others  could 
not  excel  him,  and  drive  him  from  his  business.  It 
would  be  better  even  for  the  laborer  who  is  by  nature 
so  stupid  that  he  cannot  be  educated ;  since  the  advance- 
ment of  him  who  was  educated  to  higher  grades  of 
employment  would  improve  the  chances,  by  diminish- 
ing the  quantity,  of  ignorant  bone  and  muscle.  It 
would  be  better  for  the  merchant;  since  it  would  en- 
able him,  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  to  meet  success- 

251 


252  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

fully  the  competition  of  the  world  with  native  products ; 
and  the  markets  of  the  world,  to-day  are  no  less  the 
home  than  the  foreign  markets.  It  would  be  better  for 
the  State ;  since  it  would  give  her  more  intelligent,  more 
thrifty,  more  virtuous  citizens.  Indeed,  as  educated 
labor  is  in  every  way  the  best,  so  in  every  way  is  it 
the  cheapest  labor  in  the  world. 

THE  WORK  MUST  BEGIN  ix  THE  PRIMARY  SCHOOLS. 
—  The  testimony  is  also  conclusive,  that  the  education 
now  required  by  the  laborer  must  be  much  more  than 
merely  literary,  much  more  than  merely  technical :  it 
must  be  a  due  combination  of  both  elements.  The 
work,  too,  of  imparting  this  education,  must  begin  in 
the  primary  schools,  —  with  language  and  mathematics, 
with  art  and  natural  science.  In  the  higher  public 
schools  it  must  keep  the  same  breadth,  mainly  leaving 
specialties  of  all  kinds  for  special  schools.  There  must 
be  enlargement  here,  reduction  there,  all  the  way  along 
the  common-school  curriculum,  until  we  secure  the 
popular  education  which  the  times  demand  for  all,  but 
especially  for  those  who  labor  with  their  hands. 

Consider  what  a  large  proportion  of  the  pupils  quit 
the  public  schools,  never  to  enter  them  again,  after  they 
are  thirteen  years  old.  How  essential,  therefore,  that 
some  of  the  elements  of  a  technical  education  should 


CONCLUSION.  253 

be  taught  in  the  primary  schools !  that  pupils,  hefore 
they  are  ten  years  old,  should  make  a  rational  com- 
mencement with  certain  of  the  natural  sciences  and 
with  drawing !  It  is  always  found,  in  attempting  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  any  new  subject,  that  the  most 
difficult  part  is  to  make  a  satisfactory  beginning.  Such 
beginning  once  made,  farther  progress  becomes  easy 
and  rapid.  That  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  an  adult 
of  the  average  ability  and  spirit,  but  without  any  early 
technical  education,  so  seldom  attempts  to  make  him- 
self, by  study,  master  of  his  business.  If  he  is  a  farmer, 
for  example,  he  cannot  read  the  best  books  treating  of 
agriculture,  because  he  does  not  understand  the  chemi- 
cal and  botanical  terms  with  which  he  meets,  and  with- 
out whose  aid  the  books  could  not  have  been  written. 
For  the  same  reason,  many  of  the  best  articles  in  his 
agricultural  journal  are  for  him  a  stumbling-block, 
and  without  profit.  What  is  true  ot  the  farmer  is 
equally  true  of  the  carpenter,  machinist,  &c.,  if  they 
have  received  no  early  technical  instruction.  It  may 
be  said  they  ought  to  set  themselves  studying  the 
elements  of  those  arts  and  sciences  which  bear  upon 
their  occupations,  until  thoy  know  enough  to  be  able,  at 
least,  to  read  such  books  as  would  be  of  special  service 
to  them.  But  the  great  majority  of  them  do  not,  and 
never  will,  if  left  entirely  to  themselves.  Now  and  then, 
22 


254  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

even  in  this  country,  we  meet  with  men  of  considerable 
business  capacity,  men  who  have  accumulated  money, 
and  yet  cannot  write  their  names.  Rather  than  give 
the  little  time  and  labor  which  would  be  sufficient  for 
learning  to  write  their  names,  these  men  subject  them- 
selves to  the  continuous  shame  of  making  their  mark. 
Though  each  needs  to  learn  only  the  letters  composing 
his  own  name,  yet  he  goes  on  making  a  cross  for  his 
signature  to  the  day  of  his  death.  This,  indeed,  is  an 
extreme  illustration  of  the  inertia  of  the  adult  mind 
when  the  learning  of  something  new  is  involved.  But, 
for  the  writing  of  one's  name,  substitute  the  elements 
of  any  science  or  of  drawing ;  then  you  have,  for  the 
average  adult  mind  which  has  not  been  previously 
introduced  to  these  mysteries,  what  will  appear  an  over- 
whelming task.  It  may,  indeed,  be  safely  asserted, 
that,  if  all  technical  instruction  is  put  off  until  the 
learner  has  become  a  workman,  the  instruction  can 
never  in  any  way,  even  with  multiplied  special  schools, 
be  made  adequate  to  the  requirements  of  the  age.  If, 
however,  a  proper  beginning  has  been  made  in  the 
common  school,  then  there  will  be  little  difficulty  with 
subsequent  instruction. 

But  even  if  we  could  be  assured  that  every  child  in 
the  public  schools  would  remain  there  until  seventeen 
years  old,  and  would  afterwards  attend  suitable  special 


CONCLUSION.  255 

schools,  still  it  would  be  best  to  begin  teaching  the 
elements  of  natural  science  and  art  in  the  primary 
schools.  Kearly  every  department  of  knowledge  has 
features  which  are  adapted  to  the  minds  of  children, 
and  which  can  often  be  better  learned  in  childhood  than 
at  any  later  period.  Notably  this  is  true  of  drawing 
and  of  natural  science.  Both  appeal  to  the  perceptive 
faculties,  and  train  the  sight.  Drawing  deals  with 
visible  lines  and  forms :  natural  science  deals  with 
facts,  phenomena,  instead  of  words  and  abstract  state- 
ments. Drawing  cultivates  the  taste,  confers  manual 
dexterity,  develops  the  inventive  powers.  The  train- 
ing which  gives  these  things  should  begin  early.  Bet- 
ter than  any  other  study  adapted  to  childhood,  natural 
science  teaches  to  compare,  to  generalize,  to  tabulate,  — 
things  which  pupils  should  begin  to  do  at  an  early  age, 
always  providing  that  they  are  confined  to  things  which 
they  clearly  comprehend. 

CRAMMING.  —  Then  you  would  devote  the  primary 
schools  and  public  schools  generally,  it  will  be  said,  to 
the  work  of  cramming  pupils  with  a  great  and  confused 
variety  of  facts,  when  they  should  quit  the  schools 
with  a  compact  mass  of  knowledge,  well  arranged  and 
well  digested.  Instead  of  giving  them  mental  discipline, 
strong  tendencies  of  mind  to  act  in  the  right  direction, 


256  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

you  would  leave  them  with  good,  strong  habits  of  inind 
all  unformed,  the  result  of  the  vague  impressions  and 
fleeting  influences  to  which  they  had  heen  subjected  by 
a  too  varied  course  of  study.  Certainly  not.  We 
would  strive,  and  we  believe  successfully,  for  the  just 
mean  of  knowledge  and  discipline,  of  formation  and 
information;  keeping  two  ends  always  in  view,  —  the 
one  educational,  the  other  directly  practical. 

What  is  cramming  ?  The  mind  must  be  supplied 
with  a  certain  amount  of  facts,  impressions,  data,  as 
the  body  must  be  supplied  with  a  certain  amount  of 
food,  before  there  can  be  digestion,  assimilation,  and 
growth.  So  long  as  the  supply  does  not  exceed  the 
amount  which  can  be  well  digested  and  assimilated, 
there  is  no  cramming;  and  the  young,  growing  mind, 
like  the  young,  growing  body,  needs  a  large  supply  of 
food  to  keep  it  in  healthy,  prosperous  condition.  Just 
how  much,  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  tell.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  the  body  be  nourished  with  the  same 
limited  variety  of  food  month  after  month,  and  year 
after  year.  Indeed,  an  occasional  change  is  known  to 
be  decidedly  advantageous.  By  the  change,  the  relish 
with  which  the  food  is  eaten  is  frequently  increased, 
and,  in  consequence,  the  capacity  for  digestion  and 
assimilation.  Though  there  may  be  more  eaten,  as  the 
result  of  the  change,  there  is  not,  necessarily,  any  more 


CONCLUSION.  257 

cramming,  —  gluttony;  because  all  that  is  eaten  may  be 
well  used.  A  glutton  may  be  gluttonous  with  a  single 
dish.  Change  and  variety  of  food  do  not,  therefore, 
necessarily  imply  cramming  for  the  body,  but,  rather, 
health  and  growth.  Nor  does  variety  in  study  neces- 
sarily imply  cramming  for  the  mind,  but,  rather,  in- 
crease of  knowledge  and  strength. 

There  may  be  just  as  much  cramming  with  a  few  as 
with  many  studies.  How  often  pupils  in  the  public 
schools  are  compelled  to  learn  the  spelling  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  thousand  words,  and  that,  too,  without  heeding 
the  laws  of  orthography,  when  there  is  no  assurance 
that  one  pupil  out  of  fifty  will  have  occasion,  in  all  his 
after-life,  to  write  above  three  or  four  thousand  different 
words,  and  those  the  most  common !  What  is  that  but 
cramming  ?  How  often  the  pupils  in  the  public  schools 
are  compelled  to  memorize,  and  that,  too,  with  little  ref- 
erence to  generalization,  twenty  to  forty  thousand  facts 
in  geography,  when  it  is  well  known  that  not  more  than 
one-tenth  part  of  these  facts  will  be  permanently  re- 
membered, or  would  be  of  any  use  if  they  were  remem- 
bered !  What  is  that  but  cramming  ?  And  what  is 
that  (which  is  sometimes  done)  but  cramming,  when 
children  are  made  to  memorize  the  solutions  of  numer- 
ous problems,  and  to  learn  a  variety  of  arithmetical 
processes,  yet  are  never  required  to  compare  one  prob- 
22* 


258  TECHSriCAL  EDUCATION. 

lem  with  another,  nor  one  process  with  another,  and 
never  get  a  general  view  of  arithmetical  principles  and 
their  applications?  And  what  is  that  but  cramming, 
when  children  memorize  whole  grammars,  and  repeat 
them  verbatim,  while  their  discriminating  powers  are 
not  equal  to  the  comprehension  of  one-quarter  of  what 
they  repeat  ?  Yet  if  the  pupils  in  the  public  schools  are 
kept  to  spelling,  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  —  the 
old  recognized  studies,  —  it  is  supposed  by  many  that 
the  evils  of  cramming  will  be  avoided;  while  the  truth 
of  the  matter  is,  that  cramming  in  its  worst  form  is 
usually  found  in  those  schools  where  the  fewest  studies 
are  pursued,  and  where  huge  text-books  receive  their 
heartiest  welcome.  A  large  percentage  of  pupils  now 
waste  time  enough  in  cramming  with  the  spelling-book, 
to  give  them,  if  their  energies  were  rightly  directed,  a 
rational,  substantial  start  in  botany.  The  common 
words  which  they  will  have  occasion  to  spell  after  they 
leave  school,  they  would  spell  as  well  as  now;  while  their 
knowledge  of  botany,  and  the  discipline  derived  from 
its  study,  would  be  so  much  clear  gain. 

VARIETY  AND  ALTERNATION  OF  STUDIES.  —  With 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  studies,  it  by  no 
means  follows  that  they  must  all  be  pursued  at  once, 
but  rather  that  they  should  be  taken  at  intervals,  with 


CONCLUSION.  259 

due  alternation,  as  in  the  case  of  food.  It  is  especially 
necessary  in  schools  for  the  smaller  children,  that  quite 
a  variety  of  things  should  be  taken  in  hand  each  day  ; 
since  it  is  often  impossible  to  keep  the  pupils,  for  any 
great  length  of  time,  interested  in  one  thing,  however 
well  they  may  like  it  on  the  whole.  When  their  interest 
is  gone,  there  is  no  improvement;  but,  rather,  disgust  for 
school,  for  instruction,  springs  up.  John  Locke  spoke 
very  truly  when. he  said  a  boy  would  soon  tire  of  the 
sport,  if  he  were  required  to  spin  his  top  a  stated  num- 
ber of  hours  at  the  same  time  each  day.  And  so  it  is 
with  little  children  and  their  studies,  however  agreeable 
the  studies  may  be  in  themselves.  There  must  be  a 
sufficient  variety  to  give  the  children  a  healthy,  unflag- 
ging interest  in  their  work.  Because  there  is  not  now 
such  variety  in  many  schools,  the  larger  part  of  the 
time  of  the  children  is  worse  than  wasted.  The  older 
the  pupils  are,  and  the  better  trained  in  applying  them- 
selves to  study,  the  fewer  the  things  which  will  suffice 
to  give  the  requisite  variety.  If  all  the  studies  it  is 
thought  essential  that  pupils  of  a  given  age  should  be 
instructed  in  are  not  required  for  this  purpose,  then  let 
the  studies  be  taken  at  intervals ;  thus  diminishing  the 
number  of  lessons  learned  daily  by  the  pupil,  and  the 
number  of  class-exercises  conducted  by  the  teacher. 
The  studies  should  not,  however,  alternate  from  day 


2GO  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

to  day,  nor  from  week  to  week,  but,  rather,  from  month 
to  month,  or  from  term  to  term.  It  is,  for  several  rea- 
sons, impossible  to  secure  adequate  results  in  any  study, 
with  a  short  lesson  every  third  or  every  second  day. 
Put  the  instruction  which  would  thus  be  devoted  to 
any  study  in  three  months  all  into  one  month,  and 
very  much  more  would  be  accomplished.  Let  the  work, 
then,  when  any  thing  is  done,  be  continuous  and 
earnest. 

There  is  no  reason  why  arithmetic  even,  when  once 
taken  up,  should  be  pursued  without  interruption  until 
it  is  dropped  finally.  No  harm,  but,  on  the  whole,  good, 
rather,  would  come  from  dropping  it;  also  geography 
and  grammar  an  occasional  term.  The  pupils  would 
take  up  the  work  with  renewed  relish  and  vigor;  what 
had  been  partially  forgotten  would  soon  be  recovered ; 
and  then  their  advance  over  new  ground  would  be  more 
rapid  than  if  there  had  been  no  period  of  rest.  Expe- 
rience justifies  this  declaration.  If  deemed  advisable, 
however,  that  any  general  division  of  study  should  be 
pursued  without  any  interruption,  then,  in  the  mathe- 
matics, for  example,  geometry  might  take  the  place  of 
arithmetic,  even  with  the  youngest  pupils.  Natural 
science  and  drawing  have,  also,  their  different  depart- 
ments, which  could  be  pursued  with  proper  periods  of 
alternation. 


CONCLUSION.  261 

ROOM  FOR  ADDITIONAL  STUDIES.  —  Thus,  if  we  re- 
duce each  study  to  its  legitimate  bounds,  as  determined 
by  the  two  fundamental  considerations,  —  the  one  educa- 
tional, the  other  directly  practical,  —  we  can  readily  obtain 
place  for  additional  studies  in  the  public  schools,  and  at 
the  same  time  avoid  the  evils  of  cramming.  While  we 
give  a  pleasing  variety  to  the  studies  in  primary  schools, 
utilizing  all  the  time  of  the  children  with  advantage  to 
both  their  mental  and  physical  health,  we  can  at  the 
same  time,  by  giving  to  different  studies  intervals  of 
rest,  confine  within  a  rational  limit  the  number  of  les- 
sons learned  daily  by  the  older  pupils,  and  the  number 
of  class-exercises  conducted  daily  by  the  teacher.  Hav- 
ing done  thus  much,  if  we  can  then,  without  sacrificing 
any  part  of  the  economy  of  class  instruction,  so  modify 
the  present  cast-iron  system  of  graded  public  schools  as 
to  give  the  pupils  in  them  an  equal  freedom  with  pupils 
in  ungraded  schools,  enabling  a  large  percentage  of  the 
pupils  to  accomplish  in  three  years  (and  they  are  abun- 
dantly able  to  do  it)  what  they  are  now  compelled  to 
spend  five  years  upon,  there  will  be  yet  more  time 
gained  for  additional  studies.  This  same  change  should 
also  relieve  the  teachers  of  a  part  of  their  present  re- 
sponsibility for  the  advancement  of  their  pupils,  and  put 
it  where  it  belongs,  — upon  the  pupils  themselves,  and 
upon  their  parents.  The  teacher  would  then  become, 


262  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

what  he  should  he,  an  assistant  in  the  education  of  the. 
pupil,  or  director  at  most.  The  self-reliance  of  the  pupil 
and  his  love  for  his  teacher,  —  who  would  be  regarded 
as  his  friend,  and  not  as  his  master,  —  would  be  greatly 
augmented.  But  if  we  cannot  have  these  modifications 
in  public-school  instruction,  then  the  new  studies  de- 
manded by  the  times  must  go  into  the  schools  as  they 
are,  and  each  study  take  its  chances.  When  parents 
and  pupils  see  in  schools  certain  new  studies  which  have 
a  direct  bearing  upon  daily  labor,  the  pupils  will  attend 
school  a  year  or  two  longer  for  the  sake  of  obtaining 
instruction  that  will  tend  directly  to  increase  the  returns 
for  their  toil.  For  the  purpose  of  learning  a  little  more 
geography,  a  little  more  arithmetic,  a  little  more  gram- 
mar, most  pupils  do  not  care  to  attend  school,  and  most 
parents,  we  know,  do  not  send  them  ;  but  when  there 
is  seen  in  the  schools  something  which  will  help  them 
directly  to  become  better  farmers,  better  carpenters,  bet- 
ter machinists,  better  artisans  of  every  kind,  the  whole 
situation  will  be  reversed,  and  a  large  part  of  the  pupils 
who  now  leave  school  at  such  an  early  age  will  be  found 
attending  school  a  year  or  two  longer  if  possible. 

MENTAL  DISCIPLINE. — What  is  discipline?  To 
increase  the  number  of  studies  will  diminish,  it  may  be 
said,  the  discipline  which  the  mind  should  always  derive 


CONCLUSION.  263 

from  pursuing  a  course  of  study.  Already  it  lias  been 
shown,  that  to  enlarge  the  course  of  study  will  not,  neces- 
sarily, enlarge  the  amount  of  cramming, — one  of  the 
worst  features  of  bad  instruction.  But  what  of  the  vari- 
ety ?  Though  there  should  be  no  more  cramming,  will  not 
the  variety  tend  to  give  only  vague,  fleeting  impressions, 
instead  of  strong  tendencies  in  the  right  direction, 
instead  of  enduring  habits  of  mind  ?  Let  us  see. 
While  each  study  has  its  peculiar  characteristics  both  in 
matter  and  method,  which  exert  a  peculiar  influence 
upon  the  mind  of  the  learner,  yet  all  studies  have  much 
in  common  :  and  the  learner  who  has  gained  a  knowledge 
of  one  finds  it  easier  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  all  the 
others.  The  memory  needs  to  be  cultivated;  but  it 
should  be  cultivated  in  different  directions.  Pupils 
should  not  be  kept  constantly  exercising  their  memory 
with  one  subject,  —  with  the  facts  of  geography  alone,  of 
arithmetic,  of  grammar,  of  science,  of  history.  It  is 
far  better  that  it  be  exercised  with  various  things,  the 
pupil  always  shunning  the  fatal  mistake  of  memorizing 
words  according  to  the  order  of  their  sounds,  and  not  of 
their  meaning.  Pupils  should  also  learn  to  compare  and 
discriminate  ;  and  this  they  can  learn  not  only  from  the 
problems  and  processes  of  arithmetic,  not  only  from 
the  grammatical  usage  of  words,  not  only  from  the 
phenomena  of  science  and  the  forms  of  art,  but  best 


264  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

from  them  all  combined.  Pupils  should  learn  to  gen- 
eralize and  to  tabulate ;  but  no  one  study  has  a  monopoly 
of  these  things.  Pupils  should  learn  application  and 
self-reliance ;  but  no  study  is  without  its  obstacles  and 
its  demands  for  persistent  effort.  Hence  it  follows,  that 
a  change  from  one  study  to  another  does  not  break  the 
continuity  of  the  discipline :  it  only  modifies  the  dis- 
cipline, and,  on  the  whole,  for  the  better.  Then  there  is 
a  certain  power  and  aptitude  which  comes  from  breadth 
of  study,  that  can  never  be  obtained  from  a  narrow  cur- 
riculum, and  which  enables  one  to  do  even  special  work 
better  than  the  mere  specialist.  For  this,  among  other 
reasons,  no  harm  results  when  a  study  is  occasionally 
discontinued  for  a  brief  interval,  that  another  may  be 
taken  in  its  stead. 

THOROUGH  INSTRUCTION  AND  EXHAUSTIVE  IN- 
STRUCTION. —  Great  emphasis  is  justly  laid  upon  thor- 
ough instruction ;  but  the  mistake  is  often  made  of  put- 
ting exhaustive  for  thorough.  One  may  know  little  of  a 
given  department  of  knowledge,  yet  know  that  little  just 
as  thoroughly  as  if  he  were  acquainted  with  every  thing 
that  pertains  to  the  department.  One  may  have  a  clear 
comprehension  of  the  great  principles,  laws,  of  any 
science,  yet  be  totally  ignorant  of  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  facts  in  every  thousand  known  to  be  em- 


CONCLUSION.  265 

braced  by  those  principles  or  those  laws.  Now,  it  hap- 
pens that  too  frequently  text-books  are  made,  and  too  fre- 
quently teachers  attempt  to  teach,  on  the  exhaustive 
plan.  Cramming  is  the  inevitable  result,  instead  of 
rational  instruction.  Every  text-book  designed  for  public 
schools  should  be  made,  first,  with  reference  to  the  best 
educational ;  second,  with  reference  to  the  greatest  practi- 
cal, results  derivable,  not  from  one  study,  but  from  the 
whole  course.  Agreeably  to  these  requirements,  the 
books  should  be  made  large  or  small,  more  or  less  ex- 
haustive, but  always  rational,  always  according  to  sound 
principles  of  instruction.  And  teachers  of  the  public 
schools  should  always  labor  with  the  same  objects  in 
view,  not  unduly  fostering  one  study,  and  neglecting 
another,  because  they  chance  to  like  the  former,  while 
they  dislike  the  latter. 

TEXT-BOOKS  IN  NATURAL  SCIENCE.  —  The  text- 
books of  natural  science  which  are  designed  for  use  in 
the  public  schools  should  attempt  no  more  than  a  clear 
outline  of  each  department,  acquainting  the  pupils  with 
only  its  leading  and  most  characteristic  facts,  with  its 
nomenclature,  its  general  principles,  and  best  methods  of 
investigation.  To  do  this,  the  books  must  be  rationally 
constructed,  having  in  view  both  an  educational  and  a 
practical  result.  The  different  departments,  —  as  botany, 

23 


266  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

zoology,  chemistry,  mineralogy,  —  when  they  do  not 
follow,  can  alternate  with  one  another ;  that  being  taken 
which  is  best  adapted  to  the  season  of  the  year. 

COURSE  OP  DRAWING  FOR  COMMON  SCHOOLS.  — 
Since  the  testimony  of  the  preceding  pages  is  con- 
clusive, that  drawing  should  form  the  main  feature  in 
technical  education  designed  for  the  great  mass  of  the 
people,  it  will  be  well  to  add  a  few  final  words  to  what 
has  already  been  said.  The  scope  of  the  instruction, 
and,  consequently,  of  the  text-books;  must  be  determined 
by  the  real  needs  of  the  people,  and  much  or  little  be 
done  accordingly.  The  needs,  it  is  evident,  are  great ; 
while  the  services  which  can  be  rendered  by  drawing  are 
great  also.  Upon  that  we  must  proceed.  The  methods 
of  instruction  which  are  followed  must  aim  to  give  both 
the  best  educational  and  the  best  practical  results  :  they 
must  be  methods  which  have  been  justified  by  experience, 
or  certainly  methods  which  have  not  been  condemned. 
Of  course,  original  methods,  unless  they  are  absurd  on 
their  face,  are  never  to  be  cavalierly  dismissed. 

A  full  and  suitable  course  of  drawing  for  public 
schools  must  include  several  clearly-defined  depart- 
ments. The  whole  must  be  systematically  arranged, 
with  reference,  first,  to  logical  order  of  principles ;  sec- 
ond) to  difficulties  of  manual  execution  j  tJdrd,  to  ca- 


CONCLUSION.  267 

pacity  of  pupils  at  different  ages;  fourth,  to  sound 
principles  of  teaching.  In  a  word,  drawing  is  not  a 
thing  of  vague  uncertainties.  It  must  be  treated  as 
should  any  other  branch  of  study,  that  is,  rationally,  if 
it  is  expected  to  obtain  satisfactory  results.  The  two 
general  divisions  of  drawing  —  free-hand  and  instru- 
mental —  may  be  divided  into  several  minor  depart- 
ments, each  having  its  peculiar  characteristics.  First, 
there  should  be  free-hand  drawing  from  copies  in  flat 
outline,  dealing  almost  wholly  with  pure  form.  This 
work  the  youngest  pupils  should  begin  with  slates,  to 
be  followed  by  similar  but  more  elaborate  drawings  on 
paper.  The  practice  in  flat  outline,  while  training  the 
eye  to  distinguish  beautiful  forms,  and  the  hand  to 
draw  them,  should  also  teach,  first,  common  geometri- 
cal figures;  second,  principles  of  practical  design  as  ap- 
plied to  flat  surfaces  in  woven  fabrics  and  mural 
decoration,  and  to  the  contours  of  glass-ware,  table- 
ware, and  all  kinds  of  pottery;  third,  some  of  the 
features  which  distinguish  the  art  of  different  nations, 
as  Egyptian,  Greek,  Roman,  Gothic. 

After  a  degree  of  skill  in  free-hand  work  has  been  ac- 
quired by  the  pupils,  then  should  come  mechanical  draw- 
ing with  instruments.  This  should  concern  itself 
mainly  with  those  problems  in  plane  geometry  which 
are  most  extensively  employed  both  in  the  construction 


268  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

of  flat  designs,  and  by  carpenters,  masons,  machinists, 
and  artisans  generally.  This  instrumental  drawing, 
since  one  of  its  educational  objects  is  to  teach  the  sever- 
est precision,  should  alternate,  from  da}'  to  day,  with 
free-hand  practice  in  flat-outline,  which  aims,  among 
other  things,  to  teach  freedom  of  movement,  and  celeri- 
ty of  execution.  This  alternation  has  been  found  to 
help  eacli  kind  of  drawing :  it  tends  to  give  accuracy 
in  free-hand  practice,  and  quickness  in  the  manipulation 
of  instruments. 

Thus  far,  little  or  no  thought  has  been  given  to  the 
three  dimensions,  —  to  length,  to  breadth,  and  to  height. 
Next  in  order,  therefore,  should  come  model  and  object 
drawing,  which  involves  the  three  dimensions,  and  has 
for  one  of  its  educational  aims  the  development  of  the 
imagination,  that  the  pupil  may  be  able  to  form  a  dis- 
tinct mental  picture  of  any  object.  This  every  one, 
but  especially  the  artisan,  has  almost  constant  occasion 
to  do.  In  this  department,  the  leading  subjects  of 
study  should  be  geometrical  solids,  manufactured  objects 
specially  illustrating  geometrical  forms,  ornaments  in 
relief,  and  natural  objects  having  marked  geometrical 
features,  and  illustrating  principles  of  practical  design. 
The  models  and  objects,  also  the  flat  copies  which 
should  accompany  them,  should  be  beautiful  as  possible 
in  form,  that  the  taste  may  continue  to  be  cultivated. 


CONCLUSION.  269 

As  but  little  can  be  done  in  this  department  without  a 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  perspective,  and  as  these 
principles  cannot  well  be  learned  without  drawing 
objects  of  three  dimensions,  it  is  quite  proper  that  per- 
spective drawing  with  instruments  should  alternate,  from 
day  to  day  or  week  to  week,  with  free-hand  drawing  of 
models  and  objects.  This  work  should  begin  in  the 
grammar  school,  and  conclude  in  the  high  school. 

It  is  proper  that  the  mechanical  drawing  of  the  figures 
of  plane  geometry  should  precede  model  and  object 
drawing,  and  perspective.  For  how  can  one  put  a  hexa- 
gon, for  example,  into  perspective,  unless  he  can  first 
draw  it  geometrically  ?  As  perspective  drawing,  also 
model  and  object  drawing,  in  the  public  schools,  must 
be  largely  of  the  most  practical  nature  possible,  many 
of  the  objects  drawn  will  necessarily  have  plane  geo- 
metrical sides,  contours.  Unless,  therefore,  these  ob- 
jects can  be  drawn  geometrically,  that  is,  as  they 
actually  are,  with  their  true  proportions,  it  is  impossible 
to  draw  them  in  perspective,  that  is,  as  they  appear, 
with  all  their  proportions  modified  by  the  laws  of 
optics. 

Before  coming  to  object  and  model  drawing,  and  to 
perspective,  very  little  or  nothing  should  be  done  with 
light  and  shade,  and  not  very  much  then,  though  some- 
thing.    Form  should  predominate.     There  remains  one 
23 


270  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

other,  a  fifth,  general  department  of  drawing  which  can 
imperatively  claim  a  place  in  the  public  schools  ;  and 
that  is  mechanical  projection.  This  should  be  so  far 
taught  as  to  give  the  principles  which  are  common  to 
all  kinds  of  construction,  —  architecture,  machinery, 
bridge-building,  and  the  like.  The  object  should  not  be 
to  make  draughtsmen,  —  a  work  properly  belonging  to 
special  schools,  —  but  to  enable  the  pupils  readily  to 
read  working-drawings.  Whether  this  department  of 
instrumental  drawing  be  taken  before  perspective 
among  the  less  advanced  pupils,  or  after  perspective 
among  the  more  advanced  pupils,  it  should  be,  in  the 
main  or  wholly,  an  elective  study,  to  be  pursued  by 
those  who  will  probably  engage  in  some  kind  of  build- 
ing construction. 

This  is  a  general  outline  of  what  must  constitute  a 
practical  and  artistic  course  of  drawing  for  the  pub- 
lic schools.  It  is  certainly  the  least  that  should  be 
taken.  While  the  general  features  must  be  such  as 
have  been  described,  there  may,  of  course,  be  minor 
modifications  to  meet  the  requirements  of  local  circum- 
stances. For  the  more  advanced  pupils,  especially  for 
those  showing  a  marked  aptitude  for  art,  there  should 
be  added,  in  the  high  school,  more  drawing  from  na- 
ture and  from  the  cast,  with  greater  attention  given  to 
light  and  shade. 


CONCLUSION.  271 

For  each  department  of  drawing,  even  for  model  and 
object,  there  should  be  text-books.  They  should  be 
few  or  many,  large  or  small,  according  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  work  to  be  done.  They  should  contain 
drawings  to  be  executed,  directions  for  executing  them, 
and  full,  clear  explanation  of  the  principles  involved, 
that  the  pupils  may  become  much  more  than  mere  copy- 
ists. Such  a  text,  lessening  the  labor  of  the  teacher, 
and  generally  diffusing  the  principles  of  art,  has  a  value 
hardly  second  to  that  of  the  drawing-copies  themselves, 
though  the  latter  are,  what  they  always  should  be, 
beautiful  in  design,  and  perfectly  accurate  in  drawing. 
With  such  books  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils,  it  is  far  from 
a  necessity  that  the  teacher  should  be  an  expert  in 
manual  execution.  Indeed,  the  regular  teachers  of  the 
public  schools,  possessing  the  great  advantage  of  a  gen- 
eral knowledge  of  teaching,  can  always  do  excellent 
work,  aided  by  such  books  as  have  been  described. 
They  will  usually  excel  the  mere  draughtsman  in  the 
schoolroom.  But  if  the  teachers  of  the  public  schools 
were  all  expert  at  drawing,  even  then  the  pupils  should 
be  supplied  with  such  text-books  as  have  been  described, 
and  not  be  left  to  receive  their  instruction  wholly  from 
the  teachers,  who  would  thus  find  their  labors  greatly  in- 
creased, while  the  advancement  made  by  the  pupils 
would  be  much  less  rapid.  It  should  be  one  of  the 


272  TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

chief  aims  of  the  public  school  to  teach  the  pupils  how 
to  use  a  book  properly.  Only  a  small  part  of  them  now 
learn  this  lesson,  upon  which  depends  so  much  of  their 
progress  in  knowledge  after  leaving  school.  They  learn 
to  memorize  the  words  of  the  text-books  ;  but  the  real 
meaning  of  the  words,  that,  too  frequently,  they  fail  to 
learn.  Now,  aside  from  diminishing  the  labor  of  the 
teacher,  and  accelerating  the  advancement  of  the  pupil, 
the  execution  of  a  drawing,  especially  an  instrumental 
drawing,  from  a  printed  text,  is  one  of  the  best  possible 
exercises  for  teaching  a  pupil  the  exact  force  of  words. 
If  he  follows  minutely  the  directions  of  the  text,  he 
obtains  a  correct  result:  if  he  mistakes  the  meaning  of 
the  words,  his  drawing  is  wrong,  and  he  needs  no  one 
to  tell  him  it  is  wrong.  He  has  only  to  begin  again, 
studying  his  text  with  greater  care.  It  is  not  a  matter 
of  memorizing  words,  as  it  might  be  in  almost  any 
other  study ;  but  he  must  ascertain  just  what  the  words 
mean,  and  then  do  just  what  that  meaning  requires. 
This  is  a  decidedly  important  educational  feature. 

A  large  part  of  the  drawing  copies  and  models,  espe- 
cially in  the  early  stages  of  instruction,  should  possess 
definite  general  proportions,  and  strongly-marked  geo- 
metrical features,  which  can  be  indicated  by  construc- 
tion-lines or  geometrical  tracings.  To  make  use  of  these 
helping  lines  is  to  follow  the  practice  of  the  best  masters 


CONCLUSION.  273 

of  different  ages.  By  their  aid  the  pupil  does  his  work 
uiiderstandingly  :  he  is  enabled  to  make  his  drawings 
larger  or  smaller  than  the  copies,  —  an  essential  matter. 
It  is  the  true  way  to  approach  the  study  of  Nature ;  for 
Nature,  in  her  general  features,  usually  builds  upon  regu- 
lar geometrical  forms,  however  much  she  may  deviate  from 
them  in  details.  Unless  the  pupil  can  first  draw  that 
which  is  regular,  symmetrical,  of  definite  proportions, 
and  which  can  therefore  always  be  verified,  how  is  it 
possible  for  him  to  draw  an  object,  whether  of  nature 
or  art,  which  is  irregular,  unsymmetrical  (if  only  in 
details),  which  has  no  definite  proportions,  and  so  does 
not  permit  the  drawing  to  be  verified  by  measurement  ? 

The  blackboard  should  be  frequently  used  by  the 
teacher  for  the  purpose  of  class-instruction  in  principles 
and  in  the  execution  of  drawings.  Time  is  thus  saved. 
It  should  also  be  quite  frequently  used  for  the  purpose 
of  supplying  the  pupils  with  copies  to  draw  to  a  much 
smaller  scale  on  paper.  They  thus  learn  reduction. 
The  pupils  themselves  should  often  draw  on  the  black- 
board, enlarging  the  copies  in  their  books.  Thus  they 
learn  enlargement,  while  they  acquire  great  freedom 
and  boldness  of  movement. 

Pupils  should  frequently  make  drawings,  the  features 
being  oraily  dictated  by  the  teacher,  instead  of  always 
drawing  from  copies,  models,  objects.  This  will  test  their 


274          TECHNICAL  EDUCATION. 

knowledge  of  what  they  have  been  over;  will  show  them 
that  words  and  lines,  forms,  are  convertible,  while  it 
will  develop  the  imagination  :  since  it  will  be  impossible 
for  them  to  draw  a  single  line  correctly,  unless  a  mental 
picture  of  it  has  first  been  made.  If  we  consider  the 
practical  view  alone,  it  is  exceedingly  important  that 
the  imagination  should  thus  be  trained ;  for  every  one 
must  at  times  work  under  oral  orders.  Pupils  should 
also  be  exercised  in  the  reproduction  from  memory  of 
drawings  previously  executed ;  especially  should  they 
be  thus  exercised  in  drawing  noted  historic  forms,  until 
the  distinguishing  peculiarities  of  these  forms  are  indeli- 
bly traced  upon  the  memory.  In  this  way,  not  only 
will  the  memory  be  strengthened,  but  the  pupils  will 
acquire  the  power  of  distinguishing  the  features  which 
characterize  the  art  of  different  nations  and  of  different 
ages.  But  especially  should  pupils  be  exercised  in  that 
most  delightful  and  most  profitable  kind  of  drawing,  — 
original  design.  Having  learned  some  of  the  principles 
which  should  both  direct  and  restrain  the  invention,  and 
having  become  acquainted  with  some  of  the  historic 
materials  to  be  used,  also  with  the  method  of  procuring 
new  materials  from  the  exhaustless  sources  of  Nature, 
there  can  be  no  end  to  the  delight,  to  the  intellectual 
stimulus,  to  be  obtained  from  the  practice  of  original 
design. 


CONCLUSION.  275 

SPECIAL  INSTRUCTION.  —  A  broad,  rational  founda- 
tion for  art  and  science  to  build  upon  having  first  been 
laid  in  the  common  schools,  special  schools  of  all  grades, 
for  students  and  for  workmen,  and  museums,  should  be  at 
once  established  throughout  the  country.  What  should 
be  the  general  character  of  these  special  schools  and 
museums  has  been  clearly  outlined  in  the  preceding 
pages.  It  is  not  proposed,  here  and  at  this  time,  to 
give  details,  but  simply  to  urge  that  such  schools  and 
museums  be  established  at  the  earliest  day,  upon  the 
broadest,  most  liberal  foundation,  and  at  all  those  cen- 
tral points  where  their  influence  upon  the  local  indus- 
tries will  be  the  most  direct,  the  soonest  felt  and 
recognized.  While  the  technical  instruction  given  in 
the  common  schools  will  tend  to  swell  largely  the  num- 
bers found  in  the  higher  special  schools,  the  influence 
of  the  latter  will  also  tend  greatly  to  elevate  the  techni- 
cal instruction  of  the  former,  just  as  the  higher  classical 
instruction  of  the  academies  and  colleges  has,  in  the 
past,  tended  greatly  to  elevate  the  literary  instruction 
of  the  common  schools. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Adult  mind  not  disposed  to  learn 
new  things,  254. 

Agriculture,  labor-saving  imple- 
ments employed  in,  27. 

American  artisans  ignorant  of 
drawing,  184. 

Apprentice  schools  in  Belgium, 
136. 

Apprentices,  large  number  of, 
employed  at  Fives  (France), 
75 ;  have  better  opportunities 
in  small  shops  than  in  large 
ones,  78;  special  schools  for 
instruction  of,  132 ;  should 
study  together  with  workmen, 
145. 

Apprenticeship,  decay  of,  9. 

Art,  French,  remarkable  vitality 
of,  219. 

Art-masters,  training  of,  197. 

Art-metal  work,  report  on,  215. 

Art  Museum  at  South  Kensing- 
ton, 198. 

Artisan,  the,  should  receive  an 
artistic  training,  21. 
24 


Artisans,  increasing  number  of, 
28  ;  French,  large  number  sent 
abroad,  76. 

Austria,  Report  of  the  French 
Imperial  Commission  on  draw- 
ing in,  202,  243. 

B. 

Baker,  R.,  English  wood-carver, 
on  the  superiority  of  French 
work,  100. 

Bardin,  M.,  professor  in  com- 
munal schools  in  Paris,  re- 
port of,  152,  189. 

Batley  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
report  of,  41,  47. 

Baudine,  Father,  of  Christian 
Brothers'  School,  152,  187. 

Bavaria,  report  on  industrial 
education  in,  120;  drawing 
in,  243. 

Behrens,  Jacob,  letter  of,  to  Lord 
Montagu,  155. 

Belfast  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
report  of,  36,  49. 

Belgian  testimony,  224. 
277 


278 


INDEX. 


Belgium,  industrial  and  techni- 
cal schools  in,  88  ;  apprentice 
schools  in,  136. 

Bernat,  director  of  School  of  In- 
dustrial Arts  at  Lille,  testi- 
mony of,  127. 

Besan9on,  municipal  school  of, 
watch-manufacture  at,  133. 

Beunoch,  Francis,  on  the  decline 
of  silk-manufacture  in  Eng- 
land, 64. 

Booth,  L.  S.,  of  Coventry,  re- 
port of,  on  ribbons,  102. 

Birmingham  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, report  of,  36,  38,  43 ; 
resolutions  of,  47  ;  hardware 
district,  list  of  articles  made 
in,  replaced  by  productions  of 
other  countries,  51. 

Bradford,  worsted-trade  of,  55. 

Brass-founding,  report  on,  218. 

British  Chambers  of  Commerce, 
opinions  of,  35. 

C. 

Capital  and  labor,  relative  pro- 
portions of  profits  of,  107. 

Central  Imperial  School  of  Arts 
and  Manufactures,  130. 

Central  School  at  La  Martiniere, 
mode  of  teaching  drawing  at, 
191. 

Chambers  of  Commerce,  British, 
opinions  of,  35. 

Chemistry,  knowledge  of,  neces- 
sary to  producers,  33 ;  to 
dyers,  40. 


Chemnitz,  apprentices  and  arti- 
sans of,  obtain  a  technical  ed- 
ucation gratis,  40. 

Children's  toys,  variety  of,  made 
at  Nuremberg,  80. 

Christian  Brothers'  School,  152. 

City  of  London  College,  160. 

Cluny,  Normal  School  of,  240. 

Communal  schools  of  Paris, 
152. 

Competition  world  wide,  2 ; 
home  and  foreign,  25. 

Connolly,  Thomas,  English 
stone-mason,  on  Paris  Ex- 
hibition, 98. 

Co-operation  of  masters  and 
workmen,  J.  Scott  Russell  on, 
105. 

Coventry  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, resolution  of,  49;  de- 
cline of  silk-trade  in,  73. 

Cramming,  255. 

Creuzot,  France,  immense  iron- 
works at,  92. 

D. 

De  Walden,  Lord  Howard,  on 
the  effect  of  industrial  schools 
in  Belgium,  88. 

Decline  of  silk-manufacture  in 
England,  64. 

Denmark,  drawing  in, '243. 

Dewsbury  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, report  of,  39,  43,  49. 

Doria,  Mr.,  on  technical  schools 
in  Sweden,  87. 


INDEX. 


279 


Draughtsman,  value  of  an  ex- 
pert, 34. 

Drawing  a  part  of  popular  edu- 
cation, 18;  relations  of,  to 
art,  177  ;  general  character  of 
its  instruction,  178;  different 
modes  of  execution  of,  179; 
English  and  French  methods 
of,  179  ;  from  flat  copies,  180  ; 
from  vegetable  forms,  182 ; 
from  geometric  objects  and 
casts,  183;  with  instruments, 
183  ;  ignorance  of  American 
artisans  in  relation  to,  18.4: 
as  taught  at  La  Martiniere 
school,  191  ;  the  principal 
means  in  technical  instruction, 
195;  training  of  art-masters, 
197  ;  in  Austria,  202 ;  in 
Nuremberg,  203  ;  in  Wurtem- 
berg,  205,  244  ;  a  knowledge 
of,  essential  to  wood-carving, 
215;  Belgian  testimony  in 
relation  to,  224  ;  geometry  the 
true  basis  of  all  elementary, 
227  ;  first  degrees  of  teaching, 
228 ;  Taeye,  M.  De  on  ele- 
mentary, 230  ;  French  report 
on,  231  ;  in  the  municipal 
schools  of  Paris,  235  ;  at  Clu- 
ny,  240  ;  in  England,  242  ;  in 
Austria,  243 ;  in  Denmark, 
243 ;  in  Bavaria,  243 ;  in 
Royal  Industrial  School  at 
Nuremberg,  245 ;  course  of,  in 
public  schools,  266 ;  special 
instruction  in,  275. 


Drawing-copies,  great  value  of 

good,  234. 
Dyers,    superiority   of  French, 

39,  41,  58. 

E. 

Ecole  Centrale  des  Arts  et  Man- 
ufactures, 123. 

Educated  labor  the  cheapest  as 
well -as  the  best,  252. 

Education  should  conform  to 
the  necessities  of  a  people,  1  ; 
popular,  13  ;  how  should  it  be 
modified,  14  ;  drawing  a  part 
of,  18;  of  artisans  at  Creuzot, 
France,  94  ;  equality  in,  leads 
to  equality  in  distribution  of 
wealth,  106. 

England,  drawing  in,  242. 

English  artisans  at  Paris  Exhi- 
bition, testimony  of,  97. 

English  government  taking  up 
the  general  organization  of 
art-education,  196. 

Evening  schools  for  workmen, 
144,  152,  157. 

F. 

Farmers  require  education,  5. 

Fashion,  influence  of,  on  the 
ribbon-trade,  72. 

Foreign  competition,  remedy  of 
evils  from,  44. 

Form,  and  not  shade,  the  im- 
portant thing  for  beginners  in 
drawing,  241. 


280 


INDEX. 


Freeman,  Mr.,  of  Falmouth,  on 

the  granite-trade,  42. 
French  art,  remarkable  vitality 

of,  19. 
French    Imperial    Commission, 

187. 
French    report    on   drawing  at 

the  Universal  Exposition,  231. 
French    students    of  industrial 

art,  facilities  of,  219. 
French  testimony  on   technical 

education,  73. 
French  workman  imbued  with  a 

true  love  of  his  art,  100. 
Furniture,  value  of  drawing  in 

the  manufacture  of,  190. 

G. 

Gaumont  and  Guemied,  exam- 
ination of,  by  French  Com- 
mission in  regard  to  manual 
labor  as  a  means  of  instruc- 
tion, 125,  153. 

Geometry,  descriptive,  the  basis 
of  mechanical  drawing,  210  ; 
the  true  basis  of  all  elemen- 
tary drawing,  227. 

German  clerks,  superior  educa- 
tional advantages  of,  62. 

Girardon,  M.,  testimony  of,  to 
the  successful  careers  of  pupils 
from  technical  schools,  74. 

Glass-making,  need  for  art-teach- 
ing in,  99. 

Gorman,  William,  report  of,  on 
brass- founding,  218. 


Granite-trade,  technical  educa- 
tion advantageous  to,  42. 

H. 

Hamburg  Society  for  Promotion 
of  Art  and  Industry,  161. 

Hawich  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
recommendation  of,  48. 

Hole,  James,  secretary  of  York- 
shire Mechanics'  Institute,  let- 
ter of,  to  Lord  Montagu,  1 74, 
221. 

Hooper  Charles  A.,  on  the  ad- 
vantages of  museums,  1G6. 

Houel,  M.,  on  the  employment 
of  apprentices,  75. 

Human  figure,  mistaken  study 
of,  226. 


India,  superiority  of  textile 
fabrics  of,  223. 

Industrial  drawing  in  Nurem- 
berg, 203. 

Instruction  of  workmen,  143. 

Isthmus  of  Suez  Canal,  a  result 
of  superior  French  mechanical 
engineering,  91. 

J. 

Jackson,  Frank  J.,  designer  and 
art-teacher,  report  of,  218. 

Jacobs,  Thos.,  cabinet  draughts- 
man, on  superiority  of  French 
designs,  101,  170. 


INDEX. 


281 


K. 

Kendal  Chamber  of  Commerce, 

report  of,  43,  44. 
King's  College,  London,  evening 

classes  at,  159. 
Kirchof,  Francis,    glass-painter, 

on  comparison  of  English  and 

French  glass,  213. 


Labor,  influence  of  steam  upon, 
4 ;  effect  of  subdivision  of, 
8,  12  ;  rude,  dexterous,  skilled, 
11;  skilled,  and  not  pauper, 
that  America  has  to  fear  from 
Europe,  30;  rude,  may  be 
supplanted  by  machinery,  91  ; 
American,  should  be  thor- 
oughly educated,  251. 

Labor-saving  implements,  effects 
of,  27. 

Laborer,  rude,  no  hope  of  pro- 
motion for,  12. 

Lace- manufacture,  influence  of 
art-instruction  on,  90. 

La  Martiniere  technical  school, 
success  of  pupils  of,  74. 

Land,  deterioration  of,  5. 

Leather-trade,  39. 

Lectures,  popular,  149. 

Leeds,  shawl-trade  of,  41. 

Lequien,  M.,  on  the  value  of 
drawing  in  the  manufacture 
of  furniture,  190. 

Letheren,    William,    art -metal 
workman,  report  of,  215. 
24* 


Leoni,  Levi,  Prof.,  report  of, 
printed  by  English  House  of 
Commons,  81,  157,  173. 

Literary  and  scientific  training, 
evidence  of  M.  Monjean  on, 
116. 

Lowther,  Mr.,  on  effect  of  tech- 
nical instruction  in  Prussia, 
86. 

Lucraft,  Benjamin,  on  the  supe- 
rior advantages  enjoyed  by 
French  furniture-makers,  99, 
168. 

M. 

Macclesfield  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, recommendation  of,  48. 

Machinery,  effect  of,  upon  arti- 
sans, 10  ;  increases  the  relative 
demand  of  skilled  labor,  33. 

Mackie,  James,  on  need  of  intel- 
ligence in  wood-carving,  100, 
169. 

Malet,  M.,  of  Imperial  Artillery 
School,  on  apprentice  work- 
shops, 129,  193. 

Manual  labor,  evidence  of  M. 
Marguerin  on,  1 24 ;  as  a 
means  of  insrtuction,  126. 

Manufactures  no  longer  few  and 
rude,  6  ;  of  most  value,  26. 

Marguerin,  M.,  on  manual  labor, 
124. 

Mechanical  engineers,  resources 
of  French,  91  ;  scarcity  of, 
194. 


282 


INDEX. 


Mechanics'    institutes,    founda- 
tion of,  157. 
Mental  discipline,  262. 
Money   value  of  skilled   labor, 
compared      with      unskilled, 
109. 

Monjean,  M.,  observations  of, 
on  practical  schools  in  Ger- 
many, 1 16. 

Montagu,  Lord  Robert,  letter 
from  Chaml>er  of  Commerce 
to,  35 ;  letter  from  Jacob 
Behrens  to,  55. 

Mulhouse,  power-loom-weaving- 
school  at,  138. 

Municipal  school  of  watch-man- 
ufacture at  Besancon,  133. 
Municipal     schools     of    Paris, 

drawing  in  the,  235. 
Museums    serviceable  for  tech- 
nical education  of  workmen, 
148. 

N. 

Napoleon  First,  value  placed 
upon  technical  education  by, 
80. 

Natural  science  a  part  of  pop- 
ular education,  16. 
Newcastle    Chamber     of  Com- 
merce on  technical  education, 
42. 

New  studies,  time  for,  21. 
Nottingham   Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, report  of,  40,  47. 
Nuremberg,   prosperity   of,   79  ; 
industrial  drawing    in,   203 ; 


Royal  Industrial    School  at, 
245. 

O. 

Object  of  this  compilation,  24. 
Oral  and  text-book  instruction, 
blending  of,  147. 

P. 

Paris  Exhibition,  testimony  of 
English  artisans  at,  97. 

Philosophers  before  the  people 
in  foreseeing  the  times,  108. 

Plampin,  J;;mes,  working-jewel- 
ler, report  of,  218. 

Pompe'e,  M-,  of  the  Polytechnic 
Society,  before  the  French 
Commission,  117,  125. 

Porcelain-painting  at  Sevres, 
167. 

Power-loom-weaving-school  at 
Mulhouse,  138. 

Primary  education,  universal, 
171. 

Primary  schools,  industrial  edu- 
cation,should  begin  in,  252. 

Prussia,  general  effect  of  tech- 
nical instruction  in,  86. 

R. 

Randall,  John,  English  china- 
painter,  on  superiority  of 
French  ornamentation,  102. 

Raw  material,  silk,  65. 

Remedy  for  evils  springing  from 
want  of  industrial  education, 
44. 


INDEX. 


283 


Ribbons,  report  of  L.  S.  Booth 

of  Coventry  on,  102. 
Room  for  additional  studies,  261. 
Rossat,    M.,    on    practical    and 

theoretical  studies,  128. 
RussellJ.  Scott  (builder  of  Great 
Eastern)    oil     education     of 
working-classes,  103,  171, 175, 
222. 

S. 

Samuelson,  Bernard,  M.P.,  let- 
ter on  industrial  education 
in  France,  Switzerland,  Ger- 
many, &c.,  89. 

Science,  natural,  a  part  of  pop- 
ular education,  16. 
Science  and  art  department  of 
Council     of     Education      in 
England,  report  of,  112. 
Schulen,  Real  and  Gewerbe,  123. 
Sheffield  Chamber  of  Commerce 

on  the  steel-trade,  37,  48. 
Silk-manufacture    in    England, 

decline  of,  64. 

Skilled  labor  the  only  sure  foun- 
dation for  prosperous  manu- 
factures, 29. 

Smith,  Walter,  Director  of  Art 
Education  for  State  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, 249. 
South  Kensington,  art  museum 

at,  198. 
South  of  Scotland  Chamber  of 

Commerce,  report  of,  41. 
Special  instruction  in  drawing, 
275. 


Special  schools  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  apprentices,  131. 

Staffordshire  Potteries  Chamber, 
report  of,  36,  49. 

Stanley,  Lord,  replies  to  circular 
of,  83,  208. 

Superintendent  of  a  business, 
necessary  qualifications  of,  31. 

Sweden,  technical  schools  in,  87. 

Swene,  W.  T.,  on  the  need  of 
art-teaching  in  glass  manu- 
facture, 99. 

Swiss  carry  technical  knowledge 
beyond  the  French,  72. 

Switzerland,  skill  of  workmen 
in,  85  ;  popular  education  in, 
175. 

T. 

Taeye,  M.  De,  on  elementary 
drawing,  230. 

Taste,  progress  in,  7. 

Taylor,  James,  report  of,  on 
gas-fittings,  217. 

Technical  education  in  Germany 
and  Switzerland,  172. 

Technical    schools     of  a    high 

class,  prominent  objects  of,  45. 

Text-books  in   natural  science, 

265. 

Thorough  instruction    and   ex- 
haustive instruction,  264. 
Time  for  the  new  studies,  21. 
Trades  of  England,  in  what  par- 
ticular injured  by  foreign  com- 
petition, 37,  42. 
Trades'  unions  prevent  altera- 


284 


INDEX. 


tions  in  the  process  of  manu- 
facture, 42  ;  cause  the  decline 
of  the  silk- trade  in  Coventry, 
73. 

U. 

Universal  primary  education, 
167. 

V. 

Value,  comparison  of,  between 
trained  and  untrained  work- 
men, 109. 

Variety  and  alternation  of 
studies,  258. 

Verviers,  manufacturers  of,  41. 

W. 

Wages  of  workmen  at  Creuzot, 
France,  95. 

Wakcfield  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, report  of,  43,  48. 

Watch-manufacture  at  Besan- 
9on,  133. 


Weaving-school  at  Mulhouse, 
receipts  and  expenditures  at, 
139. 

Whiting,  Richard,  special  report 
of,  on  condition  and  habits  of 
French  working-classes,  216. 

Wood-carving,  French,  superior 
to  English,  100. 

Workman  should  know  the 
theory  and  practice  of  his 
business,  32. 

Workmen  should  be  draughts- 
men, 34  ;  generally  ignorant 
of  the  properties  of  the  ma- 
terials they  use,  41  ;  cannot 
gain  much  by  studying  at 
night,  76  ;  instruction  of,  143  ; 
and  apprentices  should  be 
taught  together,  145. 

Worsted-trade  of  Bradford,   55. 

Wurtemberg,  drawing  in,  205, 
244. 


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